Chris Pratt is in trouble for wearing a “white supremacist” shirt, which is a terribly alarming headline.
Pratt, the puppy dog Andy from Parks and Recreation and goofball thief from Guardians of the Galaxy, a white supremacist?
But don’t worry, folks — terms like “white supremacy” get thrown around pretty easily these days (to the detriment of recognizing real white supremacy), and the shirt in question was simply the Gadsden flag superimposed on the Stars and Stripes. You know, the Revolutionary War symbol with a coiled snake over the words, “Don’t tread on me.”
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) July 15, 2019
The flag has long been a symbol of freedom and liberty from oppressive British rule. Apparently, there are people historically illiterate enough to decide that this makes Chris Pratt a racist.
On Tuesday, Yahoo Movies UK picked up the “story” (loosely summarized: man photographed on the street wearing a T-shirt). Its headline, later softened to “Chris Pratt criticised for T-shirt choice,” originally read, “Chris Pratt criticised for ‘white supremacist’ T-shirt.”
Chris Pratt wears a Gadsden Flag shirt.
This is how it’s reported: https://t.co/x2lB37jfH5 pic.twitter.com/xAaz2k8VBA
— Amy Lutz (@amylutz4) July 17, 2019
Despite the change to the misleading headline, the article couldn’t be bothered to update its incoherent content. The piece implied that although the flag is still mainstream, it had at some point been co-opted by radical groups, which makes it a racist symbol. Also, apparently the Tea Party is now far right. The article reads:
“It has therefore become a symbol of more conservative and far right individuals and, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US, it also is ‘sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages in some contexts.’”
So, Pratt really isn’t in trouble for racism. He’s “problematic” now because he’s conservative, which people have already known for some time.
Oddly enough, TMZ came to his defense, writing, “Chris wearing the shirt doesn’t mean he supports white supremacy or anything else hateful or extreme, for that matter. He is, however, known as a conservative guy, and that’s all there is to it.”
Most commenters on Twitter appeared to agree, defending Pratt from the ridiculous accusation that there’s something wrong with wearing a “Don’t tread on me” shirt. (Remember how a few no-follower trolls on Twitter supposedly got upset about black Ariel and it became a weekslong news cycle?)
No one was actually triggered by the shirt. But of those pretending to be, they had to know that it’s nothing out of character for Pratt. What really bothers them is that Pratt can get away with being a conservative in public.
