Vendor: Valley View Center threw him out over T-shirt

Despite controversy, sales are good, says evicted cart operator

By PAUL MEYER / The Dallas Morning News

A company with an off-color sense of humor says it's being forced from a Far North Dallas mall because of a controversial T-shirt depicting violent crime in Oak Cliff.

Charroking, operator of a sales cart in Valley View Center, has stirred up debate since creating a "Welcome to Oak Cliff" T-shirt. The shirt portrays a person holding what looks like a gun with a body under one arm next to an open car trunk.

The company, which has produced a similar shirt for Pleasant Grove, says sales have been through the roof.

But not all are amused. José Hernández, one of the company's three owners, said he first received a letter Aug. 5 from mall management asking him to remove the T-shirt after receiving complaints. On Thursday, he said he received a letter terminating his lease.

Valley View Center officials could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

"We don't see it [the eviction] as a setback. It's just going to make us push harder. We are defending our rights, and we have freedom of speech," Mr. Hernández said.

"We never expected how big of an impact it had. Most people get that it's a joke."

The 26-year-old said the shirt is designed to poke fun at stereotypes about the area that maintains one of Dallas' highest violent crime rates.

Charles English, immediate past chairman of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, said the shirt represents a misperception of the area that he has been dealing with for two decades.

"My reaction is the same as it was 20 years ago. Ignore it," he said.

But he said he knows how engrained the stereotype has become, even as the area has witnessed redevelopment and economic growth.

At an Oak Cliff pawnshop Thursday afternoon, 21-year-old Chase Hollingsworth said that although some may find the shirt offensive, he finds it funny. Just last week, he said, a customer tried to pawn a loaded, sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun with a pistol grip. He quickly rejected the illegal weapon.

"I don't find it offensive because it can be really ragged down here," he said. "But some areas of Oak Cliff are a lot better than others."

Mr. Hernández said he has sold more than 1,000 of the shirts in the last two days and has received requests to include other neighborhoods, including Plano and Highland Park. The company will continue to sell the shirts on its Web site.