MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – A local biker bar apologized Friday after some criticized it for selling t-shirts that some call offensive and racist.
The shirts were on sale at SBB in from Tuesday until Thursday night.
Many viewers voiced their concerns on social media, images of the shirts have been shared and commented on hundreds of times since they were first posted online.
The shirts aren’t new, they were actually on sale for years, under the former ownership.
“We were offended by them too,” said Bill Barber, the general manager of SBB.
Barber said temporary staff members pulled out old inventory and put them on the shelves without realizing what was going on sale.
“It was an absolute mistake. The girls didn’t know what was in the boxes and neither did we to be honest with you cause we didn’t pull out every shirt for the inventory,” said Barber.
Barber said they were printed by the former owner and when the new owners bought the establishment it came with lots of old merchandise; but he did say putting them on sale was a mistake.
“Now of course they’re destroyed and gone. We apologize to the community. We love everybody here,” said Barber.
Barber told News13 he first learned about the shirts after Dorian Samuel of Tru Soul Band called and told him about social media posts.
“As soon as Dorian called me, I went and pulled them off the shelf and we destroyed them,” said Barber.
Tru Soul is an african american band, scheduled to play at SBB Friday evening.
“I got a lot a of phone calls about it, I got a lot of inboxes about it, and first thing is I want people to know is yes I am offended by it,” said Samuel.
Some fans of Tru Soul called on the band to boycott SBB over the offending shirts, but Samuel said after careful consideration, he had no intention of bowing out.
“If we want the world to change, we have to change, it starts with us; and this is the perfect time to step out for what we believe in: one nation under God,” said Samuel.
Samuel said music is a universal language, “we’re bringing people together, it doesn’t matter what color.”
A sentiment shared by biker Randy Adams, visiting SBB from Virginia.
“We have got to look forward, this is 2016. Lets put this stuff behind us, let’s move forward,” said Adams.
Barber said SBB has been under new ownership since May of 2014. Tru Soul Band has played the venue five times since then.