U of Texas pulls football shirt after accusations of a 'white supremacist message'
Leftists blasted the shirt for allegedly being connected to white supremacy.
The slogan refers to the hate directed at the team for leaving the Big XII conference and moving to the SEC beginning in 2024.
The University of Texas pulled down a t-shirt after the slogan printed on it received backlash from leftists.
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian adopted the new slogan “Embrace the Hate” for the 2023 season, in response to Texas leaving the Big XII conference for the SEC beginning in 2024.
The team’s new slogan sparked controversy online. Critics blasted the shirt as hateful, with some commenting that it was somehow connected to white supremacy.
The university’s co-op bookstore has since taken down the page to buy a shirt with the slogan.
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“I think that they’ve kind of assumed this mentality of, ‘Embrace the hate.’ We get it,” Coach Sarkisian said in an August 1 press conference. “We’re the University of Texas, we get it. This is our last year in the Big 12.”
”We got to embrace the hate,” he added on August 28. “Like, you can’t just sit back and keep taking punches and and it’s just okay. At some point, you have to go hunt, you have to punch back and you have to fight back... every time we take the field our opponent is going to get our best shot.”
Users on X decried the shirt as hateful.
”I am guessing this is sports-related, but to anyone not in on that, it appears to be a white supremacist message,” one user wrote, per Fox News.
“In 2019, a white supremacist posted a racist manifesto targeting Latinos before shooting 20 people at a Walmart in El Paso,” another user commented. “I am a #Longhorn and a graduate of the School of Journalism. What the hell is happening at @utaustin that no one even objected to this?”
[RELATED: ’If you’re white, you’re probably racist,’ student scolds peers]
The American Association of University Professors, University of Texas at Austin chapter also attacked the slogan. “Exactly who at @utaustin authorized this literally hateful use of the Longhorn brand? Asking for all faculty working to instill a positive learning community in our classes and on campus. Surely there are better ways to show UT pride.”
Campus Reform reached out to all relevant parties and will update this article accordingly.
