The White Marlin Marina in Ocean City, Maryland, is facing criticism after T-shirts it made went viral.
>> Click here to see a photo of one of the shirts
The “White Lives Matter” and "Blue Lives Matter" shirts, originally meant to raise awareness for a local conservation effort, have angered some critics.
"We're promoting people to use circle hooks, to bring them in safely and to release them back," George Lamplugh of the White Marlin Marina told Delmarva Now.
He added, “Marlin conservation has been going on for 100 years, and it’s an important issue.”
Lampugh said the colors of the fish indicated why the colors were written on the shirt.
“As soon as we bring in the first black marlin, we’ll have a Black Lives Matter shirt," he said.
A local NAACP president doesn’t see the issue in such a cavalier manner.
Worcester County NAACP president Ivory Smith doesn’t think the shirts are a good idea.
“Let me be clear, all lives do matter, whether they’re white or black, cop or civilian, fish or dog,” Smith said.
“However, we’re living in a time where African-Americans are suffering from a disproportionate amount of violence, and we do need to address that."
Smith added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if someone wearing these shirts got punched in the face.”
Despite Smith’s belief that someone will get punched, a local resident doesn’t believe there is much of a problem.
“I wore mine down the boardwalk last night,” Capt. Ted Deppe of Crownsville said.
“No one came up to me or said anything, so I don’t see what’s the big deal.”
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