Everybody loves a fun St. Patrick’s Day-themed shirt to celebrate the luck of the Irish, but there definitely needs to be a line drawn at certain points for this type of clothing. Exhibit A: this PubCrawls.com shirt reading “Drunk Lives Matter” in the same font the Black Lives Matter movement uses for its products. Um excuse me, what?
Refinery29 reports that the shirt is also being sold via Amazon, where users are livid about the shirt’s faux pas. “As an African American I CAN NOT give this any stars but I’m forced to give it one!” one user commented. “You are selling shirts that make fun of a slogan that has come out of the brutal killings of an entire race of people!”
This tone-deaf message has understandably angered many because of its disregard for the work and legacy of Black Lives Matters activists. The shirt trivializes the lives of innocent people killed simply because of the color of their skin. It makes a joke both out of very serious racial issues, and out of binge-drinking, neither of which are laughing matters. Although it’s fine to get a little fun and merry if you’re 21+ on St. Patty’s, you should always be mindful of the message you’re putting out.
Dude in bright green shamrock laden “drunk lives matter” shirt is lucky he didn’t go in a porta potty so i could knock it over onto the door
— SüßwasserLeah (@suesswassersee) March 13, 2017
A Caucasian has on a drunk lives matter tshirt it’s going to be a long day
— Rev. Dr. Hall (@GrierMagdeee) March 11, 2017
i went to an early st. patrick’s day bar crawl last weekend and they said my ticket came with a “drunk lives matter” shirt but i refused
— NickerDoodle (@OneTrickTofani) March 15, 2017
We’re all about having some fun on St. Paddy’s Day, but attire like this goes far beyond innocent fun. There’s no news about discontinuing the shirt, but after seeing these responses, we wouldn’t be surprised if sales were put on halt.