What happens when your values are at odds with your fashion?
That seemed to be the case for at least one University of California counterprotester in Los Angeles amid the university’s ongoing clash with pro-Palestine demonstrators.
According to KTLA, students and non-student activists set up an encampment at UCLA on Thursday to denounce Israel for killing over 34,000 Palestinians in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that left 1,200 Israeli civilians dead. The protesters are calling for the university to divest all ties from Israel and call for a ceasefire.
Footage from a planned counter-protest in support of Jewish students on Sunday at the UCLA campus emerged on X (formerly known as Twitter).
One tense clip features an unidentified counterprotester shouting, “Go listen to your master” and “pussy,” allegedly to a group of Black pro-Palestine protesters. However, some social media users couldn't help but notice one specific detail about the man’s clothing.
As pointed out by one X user, the counterprotester was wearing a Denim Tears “Cotton Wreath” hoodie designed by Tremaine Emory. It's part of the designer’s “Systemic Racism Controls America” collection in collaboration with Arthur Jafa.
"He is screaming, 'GO BACK TO YOUR MASTER,' while wearing Tremaine Emory’s Denim Tears ‘Cotton Wreath’ hoodie," wrote LeftSentThis on X. "A hoodie that, 'is intended to symbolise the strife of Black people within the cotton trade and in America today.'"
Emory abruptly left his creative director role at Supreme last August but did not initially disclose the motive behind his exit. He later revealed that he walked away from the famed streetwear brand due to “systemic racial issues the company has” over a pending collaboration with Jafa.
According to the New York Times, a growing number of college campuses across the country have seen pro-Palestine student activism in recent days, causing clashes between university administrators and law enforcement.
The Times reports that at least 108 protesters were arrested at Columbia University in New York City on April 18 after university administrators promised a crackdown on encampments. Over 800 arrests have been reported so far across 20 university campuses across the U.S. since April 17.
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