this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2024
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Sainsbury’s to change name of children’s trousers linked to racist slur (uk.news.yahoo.com)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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An advert for a pair of school trousers has been deleted by Argos after social media users complained the name of the product was linked to a slur used by racists.

The two-pack of “grey reinforced knee grow hem woven trousers” for seven-year-olds has connotations to a slur frequently used by racists, according to X user Esheru Kwaku.

In his post, directed at Argos and Sainsbury’s, which acquired the company in 2016, Kwaku wrote: “Hi @sainsburys @Argos_Online I know you’re the same company, are you aware that the item name below is freely used by racists to by pass n-word filters?

“May I suggest renaming the item. Also maybe a few black faces in the decision making process, to avoid this in the future.”

A spokesperson for Tu, the own-brand clothing label from Sainsbury’s, apologised and confirmed to Yahoo News UK that the product will be renamed following the criticism.

They said: “We’re truly sorry for the upset this has caused. We have listened to the concerns which have been shared and are urgently updating the product labelling."

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

I don't understand why the word grow is even in there.

Reinforced knee, hem woven. What is the word grow adding to the description?

Do the trousers grow? Do they expand so children can grow into them?

I don't get it

[–] [email protected] 28 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The hem at the end of the leg has extra length that can be let out as the child grows. When the child grows an inch, you can unstitch the hem to keep the ankles covered. It’s like cuffed pants except stitched.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

So in other words, they just need to rearrange the adjectives: "gray, grow hem, reinforced knee trousers."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ah, that makes sense I guess. Ta!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

I assume 'grow hem' means that the leg is cut longer that it needs to be but currently hemmed at a shorter length. So that as the kid grows you can let more fabric out and have trousers the right length still.