Everyone loves a Latin boy

US and Elle Girl magazines showed them off in fashion features, and Esquire magazine said, "We'd wear tshirthell.com" T-shirts. \nHmm, I wonder if they meant the shirt about arresting black babies.\nThe first page of the No. 1 T-shirt site on the Web features shirts such as "I Broke Up Brad and Jen" and "I'm What Willis Was Talkin' 'Bout." The site is getting a lot of attention for its quirky shirt sayings.\nBut wait. There's a second page.\nThe site's motto is, "Where all bad shirts go," and they mean it. \nShirts sport slogans like, "Arrest All Black Babies before They Become Criminals," and, "Love Him or Hate Him, Hitler Killed a Ton of Jews."\nFunny and quirky shirts have been a huge trend for a while now, but T-shirt Hell's designs are none of the above. The site's owners are attempting to start a new trend. \nThe anti-quirky slogan shirt.\nBut first, let's look at the current trend. I mean, how many times have you walked down Kirkwood Avenue or through the mall and seen someone wearing one of those, "Everyone loves a (fill in the blank) girl/guy," shirts? Don't forget shirts with phrases such as "Hottie," "Virgin" and "Kiss Me, I'm Irish." \nAll these shirts put people in groups. A lot of the T-shirt wearers buy items with ethnic or nationality references because it's a natural part of the pack mentality. And even though a lot of these shirts are corny, they're still really popular because the wearers are proud of their association with the group.\nBut where do T-shirt Hell's insulting shirts fit into this trend? \nWell they don't, and that's the reason they're so popular. With shirts such as, "My Mexican Works for Less Than Your Mexican," T-shirt Hell is mocking the "let's be in a group" trend by going against it. It's attempting to make fun of group T-shirts by making fun of the groups themselves. \nBut I'm not laughing.\nPutting racially negative phrases and stereotypes on shirts is not funny, no matter who wears them. If I see a non-Hispanic wearing a shirt that stereotypes Latinos, it's just insulting and says to me that that person is ignorant and insensitive. Now, if Hispanic people were wearing that T-shirt, I'd think they were even more ignorant because they should know better. \nI don't see how anyone wearing these discriminatory shirts could want the attention they'll get. But I guess some people love shock value. \nWith every trend there are people who go against it, and before you know it, a new trend is born. \nIt seems the fashion magazines are catching onto the craze, but if these racist shirts become popular, they could lead to words and ideologies of hate entering the mainstream. If it's OK to wear a shirt with a racial slur on it, then perhaps people will use the term more often. \nI'm all for freedom of speech. I'm a beneficiary of it, but somebody's got to have some morals or else we will all be fighting in the streets. \nIf people start wearing shirts that insult or poke fun of their ethnicity, then others are going to think it's acceptable because ignorance breeds ignorance. \nAnd if people begin wearing shirts that insult another ethnicity, they are going to get jumped -- I don't care where they are. \nThe line between satire and ignorance is being crossed here. The creators of the site say they don't care who they offend. \nBut they should care. \nWhen people see someone wearing one of these T-shirts, they aren't going to know if they seriously believe in the message or if they're just joking. The wearers will be leaving themselves open for judgment, whether negative or positive. \nMy question to the wearers: Are you willing to allow yourselves to be stereotyped as a bigot by one slogan?