In light of recent events, this edition of ‘Buy This’ is a bit different….

In case you missed it, this week luxury fashion department store Barneys New York has been hit with two allegations of blatant racism. Both incidents involved a store clerk calling the cops on young black individuals who had purchased a luxury accessory in the store and were detained by police after leaving the store with their items.

This t-shirt designed by Derick Bowers, takes from Kanye West’s ‘New Slaves’ in which West talks about the complex relation African-Americans have with American consumer culture. Bowers as also initiated a petition asking Jay Z to end his relationship with Barneys. Check out the following excerpt from ‘New Slaves’.

“You see it’s broke nigga racism
That’s that “Don’t touch anything in the store”
And it’s rich nigga racism
That’s that “Come in, please buy more”
“What you want, a Bentley? Fur coat? A diamond chain?
All you blacks want all the same things”
Used to only be niggas, now everybody playing
Spending everything on Alexander Wang
New Slaves”