Asst Coach [717]
TigerPulse: 100%
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Purple Out Shirts, my view on the controversy and the change
Nov 18, 2013, 12:34 PM
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It is absolutely ridiculous that Clemson has changed the design of our "Purple Out" shirt for military appreciation day. The original shirt, chosen by a panel of judges including many involved in the military as well as a two time purple heart recipient, was purple, with the words “2013 Clemson Tigers Purple Out, Purple Heart: Solid Orange,” and the letter O in Out was shaped like a Purple Heart medal. The shirts were designed with good intentions to honor and appreciate those who have served our country, including a purple heart recipient on the Clemson football team. Proceeds from shirt sales were to be given to support veterans and active duty military as well as support Clemson's ROTC and Student Veterans Association programs. The sale of the shirts and image of the Purple Heart on the shirt were not only legal, but the organizers of the event even contacted the U.S. Department of Defense to make sure and were told that it wasn't disrespectful. There are laws for using the Purple Heart, but these laws were not broken by Clemson. Several websites online sell Purple Heart merchandise and in 2012 the Supreme Court made it legal to buy and sell actual Purple Hearts. Clemson was not selling actual Purple Hearts, only shirts representing them to memorialize those who have served by celebrating them, not disgrace actual Purple Heart recipients or misrepresent the wearer of the shirt as a Purple Heart Recipient. Does wearing an athlete's jersey to a game make you that athlete? No, of course not, it only shows your support for him/her.
However, a South Carolina fan unaffiliated with the military or Clemson, with the sole intention of stirring up controversy started a Facebook page demanding the Purple Out shirt design be changed because of the presence of the Purple Heart on a civilian shirt was found (in his opinion) to be offensive, despite multiple military veterans and a two time Purple Heart recipient being on the design selection committee and all the above information I've talked about, and this week, Clemson officially changed the design of the shirt and removed the Purple Heart design and stopped selling the Purple Heart shirts.
Clemson is a college with a rich military tradition, as it was originally a military school. We have honored a Purple Heart recipient after the first quarter of every home football game this year and it has meant the world to them and their families. I see no problem with the use of the Purple Heart on our military appreciation day shirts to honor our military and I am not the only one who agrees with this. Nobody is wearing the shirts falsely claiming to be a Purple Heart recipient, it is simply about honoring our military. It is completely legal, unlike Northwestern's American flag football uniforms they wore last week that blatantly violated the U.S. flag code Title 4 Chapter 8 Section (j), that were also being sold by the university and Under Armour for $70, and only $7.50 of this was being donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. If Northwestern is allowed to wear illegal football uniforms and make an immense profit off of them, why can't Clemson fans wear shirts honoring the military that raise money that is actually being given to support the military all because a South Carolina fan cares more about making Clemson look bad than anything else? It is ridiculous, and I will proudly wear the original shirt with the Purple Heart on it this Saturday, not claiming to be a recipient of the award, but to show support for the recipients of the award, our military and veterans, and all who have served, for my dad, for my grandfather, for Daniel Rodriguez, and for America because I have the freedom to do that, and to type this, and for that I am thankful and I'm going to show that.
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