Scandal in United States: Store promoted anti-Semitic symbol to identify unvaccinated

A US hat store has drawn criticism after promoting a patch of a yellow Star of David, like the one the Nazis used to identify Jews in Germany, with the slogan “unvaccinated” in the center.

Outrage arose on Friday, when the HatWRKS store shared on its Instagram account a photo announcing the arrival of the patches, which cost $ 5. In the picture you see a woman, supposedly the owner of the business, with a yellow Star of David with the message “not vaccinated” on his black jersey. Critics were quick to come.

“Your Nazi star badges are perhaps the most offensive and anti-Semitic thing I have ever seenOne user posted on the company’s Facebook page, while others used the hashtag #HATEWORKS, a pun between hate and hate.

Local media on Saturday showed several dozen protesters outside the store, some carrying banners “No to the Nazis in Nashville!“.

“The images of the Holocaust are not intended to sell hats,” read one of the posters carried by one of the rally participants, while another said the Holocaust was not to commercialization by the Republican Party, whose base of supporters has an industry linked to the anti-vaccine movement.

Ron Rivlin, a resident of Nashville, assured WSMV they were protesting “against hatred and ignorance“And criticized the promotion of the yellow badges, which he saw as the” symbol of the greatest atrocity the world has known, which is the loss of 6 million human beings. “

Faced with the hustle and bustle, the hat shop, which regularly posted content on social media against coronavirus restrictions and the country’s president, Democrat Joe Biden, deleted the photo, but replaced it with another message to his critics. “Are people so outraged by my message? But are you outraged by the tyranny the world is experiencing? He said, “If you don’t understand what’s going on, it’s up to you, not me.”

The Stetson Company, famous for its Western-style hats, said on Saturday that “due to offensive content and mixed opinions, Stetson and our channel partners will stop selling all Stetson products to HatWRKS in Nashville.”

HatWRKS controversy arises the same week that Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene equated the obligation to wear yellow star masks that the Nazis placed on Jews. “Vaccinated employees are given a vaccination logo, just like the Nazis forced Jews to wear a gold star,” Georgia representative tweeted of company that puts badge on IDs employees who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The legislator received criticism from the leaders of both political parties.

On Friday, Biden criticized the recent anti-Semitic attacks in the United States, saying in a statement: “We cannot allow the toxic combination of hatred, dangerous lies and conspiracy theories to endanger our compatriots.”

This is the most recent controversy surrounding the covid-19 vaccination process in the United States, the country that has suffered the highest number of deaths from the pandemic.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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