Dear Lululemon- Don’t let your name become your Confederate flag.

A letter to Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald

Hi!

Earlier today, I sent this email to Lululemon’s Social Impact Center team. I have no idea whether they will share it with Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald, so I hope you can help by sharing this with your social media and running circles. Please tag Lululemon corporate, and Lululemon clubs and ambassadors. My intent is not to antagonize them, but to invite them into this dialogue so that they can be part of the solution. Thanks!

-Ben

Dear Mr. McDonald,

My name is Ben Chan. I’m the father of a soon to be 14-month old child, and since 2007, I’ve worked for the Center for Family Representation, a New York City-based nonprofit that provides legal and social work services for indigent parents targeted by the family regulation system. I started as a paralegal, and I’m currently the Manager of Efficiency, Equity, & Belonging, which is a fancy way of saying that I streamline processes, and I’m involved in recruiting and CFR’s equity work. You may be more familiar with me as the person who created the second petition demanding that the company that you lead change its anti-Asian name. Here is the first petition. 

I’m relatively sure that at the very least, your company’s public relations team is aware of my existence. If not, here’s the first video I made explaining my motivation for demanding change. I think your company is ignoring me, which makes sense. Engaging with me is not going to raise your brand’s profile or help you sell stuff. I’m asking you to have a hard conversation with me about racism, acknowledgement, and reconciliation when your chief goal is to generate as much revenue as possible by selling athleisure wear and good vibes.

This isn’t to say that I don’t believe that the work that your ever expanding group of BIPOC ambassadors engages in isn’t sincere and genuine. I know some of the athletes, and I believe that their dedication to racial justice is real. I do wonder- when you first engage your ambassadors, do you share with them the origin of your company’s name? Do you tell your ambassadors that they represent a brand name that Chip Wilson created solely to mock Japanese people? Do you divulge that at the time, there was another proposed brand name that was testing better, and that Wilson went over everybody’s head to establish your current name without approval? Do you then ask your ambassadors how they feel about your name, and whether it should be changed? Or do you ignore your history, like you’re ignoring me, and hope that silence will make it wither away and disappear- like you want me to?

Since the late 19th century, politicians and power brokers in America’s southern states have at various times declared the dawn of the “New South”- a new, rejuvenated south, ready to embrace industry, technology, and progressive ideas about democracy and race relations. The people behind the propaganda desperately want to distance themselves from the stereotypical racist redneck caricatures associated with the South. Some of them embrace racial reconciliation, but only on their terms. Those terms include, only acknowledging racism up to a certain point, characterizing the impact of systematic racism as minimal, rejecting demands for racial justice and reconciliation, and embracing the Confederate flag as an integral part of “southern heritage” rather than disavowing it as a symbol of hate and terror. The avoidance of discussions about the South’s racist past and present has been standardized in curriculums and textbooks, and legalized in legislation that prohibits words and ideas that offend white people.

I believe that you believe that your company is authentically engaging in work designed to better your company and the world. I believe that you and your company sincerely want to distance yourself from the racism and harm you’ve done in the past. I question how committed to transformation you and your company are if you insist on clinging to a relic of your racist past. Only by publicly acknowledging the racist, anti-Asian origin of your name and then disavowing it will you open the door to conversation and reconciliation.  

Don’t let your name become your Confederate flag.

It wasn’t that long ago that Cleveland’s professional baseball team and Washington’s professional football team rejected calls to change their racist names and mascots. Doug Williams becoming the first Black quarterback to start and win a Superbowl didn’t make the Washington football team’s name any less offensive. Similarly, the work your staff and ambassadors do to promote diversity and representation doesn’t make your name any less anti-Asian. Washington’s professional football team actually claimed to be committed to honoring Native communities while rejecting calls to change their racist, anti-indigenous people name. Apparently, to them, honoring Native Americans meant refusing to acknowledge decades of protests by Native Americans while Washington’s football team generated profits by selling tickets and merchandise featuring their racist team name and mascot. Since changing their names and mascots the Guardians and Commanders are still generating profits. 

So there are your precedents if you fear that you need to preserve your racist name  in order to generate revenue. Think about how much new stuff your customers will have to buy in order to replace the stuff with your former racist name on it.

Don’t become so tunnel-focused on defending your racist name that you miss opportunities to grow.

Speaking of growing- that almost 14-month old child that I mentioned in my first sentence is growing up fast. Her name is Kweli. It’s the Swahili word for “truth”. One of your stores is located in my community. Someday, Kweli is going to ask me what the name of your store means. I could ignore her. I could attempt to distract her by pointing to your website’s description of the internal work you’re doing, or I can show her your ambassadors’ social media posts. But I’m going to tell Kweli the truth, because much as my wife and I have achieved academically, professionally, and financially, we will never get to choose when racism intrudes on our lives and Kweli’s life. The best we can do is prepare her for the bigotry that will be foisted upon her. I hope that my child and other children won’t carry the double burden of having your company’s racist, anti-Asian name inflicted on them, and fighting a global brand for acknowledgement and reconciliation.

Don’t allow your privilege and pride to prevent you from empathizing with me and others who want to engage in dialogue about acknowledgement and reconciliation.

I’m afraid that other than demanding that you rebrand, I can’t help you sell more stuff. If for you, this is solely about profit and popularity, then you have no reason to acknowledge the pain and frustration associated with your brand name. You have marketing professionals, paid and volunteer ambassadors; and you invest more money in advertising and social media annually than I will earn in my lifetime. If you’re ready to discuss right and wrong, racial justice, and reconciliation, then I’m available to talk.

Ben Chan