Good O' Boy Roundup Report - March, 1996


3. Racist T-shirts

In 1991 or thereabouts, two different Boyz on the Hood T-shirts were available for sale at the Roundup by officers from the D.C. Metropolitan police department and the Cobb County, Georgia, sheriff's department. We obtained samples of both of these shirts; contrary to allegations, the shirts did not portray white officers standing over black suspects face down on the hoods. The officers shown on each T-shirt include a black officer. On one shirt the race of the "suspects" splayed out on the hood of the car cannot be determined; on the other, the "suspects" appear to be white.

T-shirts with a picture of the Buckwheat character on the front above a drawn "pocket" and the words "Good Ole Boys '92" were available for sale at the 1992 Roundup. Although the seller could not be identified, such shirts were not official Roundup shirts, were not part of any T-shirt contest, and no credible evidence was found linking these shirts to ATF.

T-shirts with O.J. Simpson's initials and a crude stick figure such as used in the children's game "hangman" were available for sale at the 1995 Roundup, but, contrary to allegations, the shirt did not portray Simpson's face in a noose. The shirt was offered for sale by two Fort Lauderdale police officers.

Minimal evidence exists that an individual may have worn a T-shirt with a target overlaying a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s face, but no credible evidence was found that such shirts were available for sale at any Roundup. Nor was any credible evidence found of the presence of a so-called "running nigger" T-shirt at any Roundup.

Although not raised during the initial allegations, in 1995 NAAWP T-shirts were offered for sale by a civilian from Georgia. No evidence was found that any such shirts were actually sold.