Washington, May 30, 2021: In the latest skirmish in the cultural war surrounding COVID vaccination in the US, a hat shop in the US state of Tennessee faced backlash after promoting a yellow star patch like those worn by Jews in Nazi-era Germany, labeled “not vaccinated.”
United States, to date has suffered the highest global death toll from the corona virus. Following the social media backlash, iconic American hat maker Stetson said it would no longer do business with the Nashville shop HatWRKS, which was targeted by protesters on social media.
The shop, HatWRKS shared on its Instagram account a now-deleted photo announcing the arrival of the $5 patches. It showed a woman, reportedly the business owner, wearing a yellow Star of David with the message “not vaccinated” on her black T-shirt.
According to one social media user, whose response to the Instagram post pretty much sums up the general public response, “Your Nazi star badges are perhaps the most offensive, anti-Semitic thing I’ve ever seen.” While others used the hashtag #HATEWORKS. Local media showed a few dozen protesters outside the shop on the weekend, including some who held up a banner declaring “No Nazis in Nashville!”
Meanwhile, Stetson, known for its Western hats, said on Saturday that “as a result of the offensive content and opinions shared, Stetson and our distribution partners will cease the sale of all Stetson products to HatWRKS in Nashville.”
HatWRKS, which regularly posted content on social media expressing views against coronavirus restrictions and Democratic President Joe Biden, replaced its controversial post with another one addressing its critics. “people are so outraged by my post? but are you outraged with the tyranny the world is experiencing?” it said. “if you don’t understand what is happening, that is on you, not me.”
The incident comes the same week that Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly equated Covid mask mandates with Nazis forcing Jews to wear yellow stars. “Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star,” the freshman Republican from Georgia tweeted about a business making its employees who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus wear a vaccination logo on their name badge. Greene was sharply criticized by leaders of both parties.
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