Online Store Apologizes For ‘At Least I’m Not Jewish’ T-Shirts
Zazzle pulled the ‘At least I’m not Jewish’ t-shirt after complaints were made Image by twitter
When you’ve got nothing but the hope in your heart and the shirt on your back, at least you’ve got this: you’re not Jewish.
Wait, what?
Zazzle, an online store that allows users to design and personalize objects like stationary and throw pillows, has dropped a user-designed t-shirt that read, “At least I’m not Jewish!”
It’s not clear how long the item had been fore sale, but by Sunday night, dozens of people had tweeted the company in displeasure, including writer Ashlee Marie Preston, who called out the company over Twitter, writing, “You’re just casually going to insult Jewish people and rock anti-Semitism like it’s the hottest look??”
In response to the complaints, Zazzle removed the shirt, which was selling for $24.25, with a fifteen percent off sale with the code “SATRDAYTREAT” (which feels a bit like insult to injury.)
A statement sent to the Forward from Zazzle read, “We do not tolerate or accept hate on our site. As an open marketplace, we are faced with the opportunity to allow people to express their creativity and sentiments, coupled with the challenge of expression that upsets and offends. When a product is brought to our attention that violates our terms of service, such as the shirt you referenced, we take swift action to have the product removed.”
The shirt was designed by a user who went by the moniker “The Slesk Bazaar.” The designer had created other shirts including one reading, “At least I’m not Christian,” and marketed both shirts “for the non-religious.” In the statement the company explained that the user will now be banned from making designs on Zazzle. “Behind the scenes we use automated filters and algorithms to try to block offensive designs. We know that the tech is not foolproof and that we cannot anticipate the range of sentiments that might be uploaded to our site, so we also manually remove products as they come to our attention,” the company wrote.
The company apologized and added, somewhat enigmatically, “In the spirit of MLK Day today, we have a lot more to do as individuals and as a company; and that beyond us, there is much we must do as a nation and as one world to shine light on the darkness.”
Well, how true. And to that end may we direct you to Zazzle’s “I’m not crazy! I’m planning a bat-mitzvah!” shirt, hate-crime-free and only $36.65.
Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
