WHAT'S NEXT

Urban Outfitters: Remove the "Navajo" Collection from Stores!
  1. Signatures
    16,604 out of 20,000
    Petitioning
    1. Urban Outfitters (+ 3 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Urban Outfitters (Glen T. Senk, CEO)
      • Urban Outfitters (Richard A. Hayne, Chairman of the Board)
      • Urban Outfitters (Amanda Hershey, Public Relations Spokesperson)
      • Urban Outfitters (Ed Looram, Company Spokesperson)
  2. Created By
    Tiffanie Wilson
    Spring, TX
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

Oct 26, 2011

After substantial pressure from over 16,000 Change- Makers all over the United States and abroad, Urban Outfitters has removed their offensive “Navajo Collection” from stores and websites worldwide.  The Navajo Nation announced the good news in a recent press release, stating, “The Urban Outfitters Corporation’s recent removal of the Navajo name from its online marketing and retailing are positive actions that are more consistent with the corporations responsibilities they previously demonstrated.  The Navajo Nation appreciates such actions and encourages other companies to take similarly responsible measures in the future.”  

Change.org member Tiffanie Wilson decided to start a petition once she learned of the products after reading Native American activist Sasha Houston Brown’s compelling An Open Letter to Urban Outfitters on Columbus Day,  Tiffanie went online and found herself looking at the “cheap, vulgar, knockoffs” including the “Navajo Hipster Panty” and the “Navajo Flask”.  “As a woman of Native American descent, I was shocked to find such culturally insensitive and offensive products being sold to make a profit”, says Tiffanie. “These cheap knockoffs are offensive and only further promote incorrect views of native culture.  Not only are these products offense but they are illegal as well”.  

Less than ten days after launching the petition, Tiffanie shares the good news saying,  
“I am writing to let all of you know of our victory! Quietly, Urban outfitters has removed all traces of their offensive "Navajo Collection" from their U.S. stores, and their websites, both U.S. and European. It is because of people like you that this was possible. I thank you for signing and for sending this to others as well. This is proof that change can really happen if we come together for issues that matter.”  

Thank you for your support Change- Makers!

Urban Outfitters “Navajo Collection” clothing and accessories is not only culturally offensive but also illegal.  I find these items to be culturally offensive. Not just to the Navajo people, but to all people of color who find themselves starting at cheap, vulgar, knockoffs of ideas, dress, and culture that are a way of life.  Despite the offensiveness of their line of products, Urban Outfitters has refused to remove these items from their stores or websites!

Did I mention this is also illegal? The Federal Trade Commission Act and Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, "prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of Indian arts and crafts produced within the United States" and states the following:


"It is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian Tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States."

None of the items on their website or in their stores are made by Native peoples. Nor do any proceeds go to the betterment of the Navajo Nation. No Navajo people were apparently consulted about this line of offensive material either.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Urban Outfitters has sold offensive products.  In January 2004, Urban Outfitters offends Jewish people for selling a T-shirt that says “Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl” surrounded by dollar signs, perpetuating a negative stereotype of Jews. The company discontinued the shirt after a complaint from the Anti-Defamation League. In January 2007, Urban Outfitters pulls kaffiyehs from stores after a blogger criticized the retailer’s decision to label the garment an “anti-war woven scarf.” According to the New York Times, the blogger posted photos of terrorists wearing the tasseled scarves, and the company pulled them from stores with the explanation, “Due to the sensitive nature of this item, we will no longer offer it for sale. We apologize if we offended anyone, this was by no means our intention.”

I am deeply distressed by your company’s mass marketed collection of distasteful and racially demeaning apparel and décor. I take personal offense to the blatant racism and perverted cultural appropriation your store features this season as “fashion.”  I find the actions of Urban Outfitters and indeed society's desire for Native cultural genocide despicable.

So tell Urban Outfitters that it is NOT okay to blatantly disrespect Native cultures and perpetuate bias, stereotypes, and discrimination in this country and call for them to dismantle this line immediately!

For More Information on Sasha Houston Brown and her open letter to Urban Outfitters please go to:
http://www.racialicious.com/2011/10/10/an-open-letter-to-urban-outfitters-on-columbus-day/

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Tell Urban Outfitters to Remove their "Navajo" Collection from Stores!

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Urban Outfitters.

----------------
Tell Urban Outfitters to Remove their "Navajo" Collection from Stores!

Sasha Houston Brown, a Native American woman from Minnesota, recently went into an Urban Outfitters location near her. To her dismay she found that the store is selling what they refer to as their "Navajo Collection". She stated that she was offended by "plastic dreamcatchers wrapped in pleather hung next to an indistinguishable mass of artificial feather jewelry and hyper sexualized clothing featuring an abundance of suede, fringe and inauthentic tribal patterns" including items such as the Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask, Navajo Hipster Panty and Staring at Stars Strapless Navajo Dress.

These items are culturally offensive! Not just to the Navajo people, but to all people of color who find themselves staring at cheap, vulgar, knockoffs of ideas, dress, and culture that are their way of life. Despite the offensiveness of their line of products, Urban Outfitters has stated that they will NOT remove these items from their stores or websites!

Not only is their line disrespectful and disgusting, it is also illegal! The Federal Trade Commission Act and Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, "prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of Indian arts and crafts produced within the United States" and states the following:

"It is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian Tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States."

None of the items on their website or in their stores are made my Native peoples. Nor do any proceeds go to the betterment of the Navajo Nation. No Navajo people were apparently consulted about this line of offensive material either.

So tell Urban Outfitters that it is NOT okay to blatantly disrespect Native cultures and perpetuate bias, stereotypes, and discrimination in this country and call for them to dismantle this line immediately!

For more information on the article written about Ms. Brown, see http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/urban-outfitters-under-fire-for-navajo-collection-2582797/.

To see the products for yourself go to http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/search/search.jsp?searchPhrase=navajo&listViewSize=&indexStart=0&sortBy=&sortOrder=&categories=&categories2=&categories3=&categories4=&skucolor=&priceLow=&priceHigh=&skusize=&brand=&maxPrice=&minPrice=




----------------

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Press Inquiries