The way to normalize:

White polo WASHINGTON — shirts and khaki pants were once a clean, wholesome look. But after young men wearing the preppy standards spewed racism and anti-Semitism while carrying tiki torches across the University of Virginia grounds in Charlottesville, the twisted iconography of prep has captured fascination on social media.

Theirs was not the only look amid a band of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan followers and other white supremacists marching through the college town in a “Unite the Right” weekend, which climaxed with the death of 32-yearold Heather Heyer, after a Nazi sympathizer plowed his car onto a pedestrian-filled street.

But suddenly a shirt affili- ated with tennis courts, col- lege greens and the retail displays of Bloomingdale’s stood for a very different message. And while white supremacists weren’t nec- essarily springing for the $85 version with its trademark Ralph Lauren Polo- brand pony, their adaptation of the style raises new questions in this back-toschool season.

Should you put your polos back in the closet? Will this quash their popularity?

How are the shirt makers dealing with the publicity, which they never sought?

We asked some experts

Polo shirts and khakis are anything but new. And there’s some irony in this, says Joseph Hancock, a professor who specializes in retail and merchandising at Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, in Philadelphia.

Ralph Lauren’s given name was Ralph Lifshitz. He was Jewish. So was the late Rene Lacoste, credited with the polo shirt.

“The adoption of apparel ideology is often done with- out an understanding of where it came from,” Hancock said.

Even khakis have a multicultural heritage, because they came out of the mil- itary, Hancock said, “and that look is diversity.”

“Alt-right” is a catch-all for an assortment of groups that promote their white identity and espouse white supremacy and antisemitism, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The movement’s leaders have tried to soften their image and recruit new mem- bers by dressing in ways they hoped would convey a less threatening message. David Duke, a former imperial wizard of the KKK, frequently appears in suits and ties. Richard Spencer, of the National Policy Institute, who helped organize the Charlot- tesville supremacist rally, also prefers a suit and tie.

More recently, two groups, Identity Evropa and Vanguard America, went for the preppy look, said Mar- ilyn Mayo, a director of the ADL’s Center on Extrem- ism. Both wanted to recruit on college campuses. “It’s a way to normalize hate,” she said. “It’s a way to look like the boy next door.”

Tiki Brand quickly distanced itself from the racists. That might have been unnecessary. The marchers’ use of a lighting and bug-repelling torch with citronella — commonly used at suburban lawn parties, but this time employed by modern-day Klansmen who apparently stopped at Home Depot on the way to the rally — had already been mocked widely. “Our products are designed to enhance backyard gather- ings,” the company said in a statement. Tiki Brand said it was “deeply saddened and disappointed” by the use of its backyard torches in Charlottesville. But until Monday, the polo shirt industry seemed to be silent.

The Ralph Lauren Corp. broke the silence, sending a statement when it was asked how Charlottesville affects the Polo brand.

“Ralph Lauren Corporation celebrates diversity, and categorically denounces all forms of racism, hatred and bigotry,” the company said.

The company also forwarded a new story from Business of Fashion, with this from company chair- man Ralph Lauren:

“For me, America has always been a country built on freedom and liberty for all. That’s why my parents came here and were so proud to become American citizens and then to pass that special privilege on to their chil- dren. Almost 50 years ago I started my company built on those American values I learned growing up. Today with almost 25,000 employees all over the world, we all share the same vision by accepting and celebrating our unique diversity and equality. These are not just American values, but the values of all good people seeking an authentic way of life for themselves and their families. These are the values that we are all committed to, that inspire me and always will.”

It is too soon to know whether sales of white polo shirts have suffered and, if so, how much. Hancock, the Drexel professor, said he wonders how this will affect school uniforms that are essentially the same as the alt-right preference: khakis and white polo. But the thing about a polo shirt, or any shirt, is this, he said. It’s not the fact that you wear it. It’s how you wear it. “We might see a decline in white, black and gray,” Hancock said. “And we might see a decline in khaki. But we might see an increase in color.” Don’t forget, people still wear white T-shirts and denim jeans, despite their being an affectation of racist, anti-Semitic skinheads in Europe. Maybe those skinheads didn’t know: Denim changed fashion because of a merchant named Levi Strauss. He was Jewish.

Older national park enthusiasts are cleaning out Ohio National Park Service offices of lifetime senior passes, which leaps from $10 to $80 in price Monday.

The result: a crazy-quilt of facilities that are simply out of the passes, one that is out but is handing out temporary receipts, and a couple that have precious few remaining.

The passes have been sell- ing briskly at the three Wayne National Forest offices near Nelsonville, Marietta and Pedro, with only 300 remaining as of Tuesday, a spokes- woman said. Passes also remained available Tuesday afternoon at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge near Oak Harbor and the Boston Store Visitor Center of Cuyahoga Valley National Park near Brecksville. Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memo- rial in Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island still has passes for sale daily. But, on Wednesday, they will only be sold from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, park staffers at Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, northeast of Cleveland, have no passes but were issuing forms with a receipt that serves as a pass until the actual one arrives in the mail. The other Ohio locales have been picked clean of the passes for those

Youngstown YOUNGSTOWN— State University’s faculty union will make no more concessions when it comes to this year’s contract negotiations.

Faculty voted unanimously in a Tuesday afternoon meet- ing to authorize the union’s negotiating team to issue a 10-day strike notice.

The authorization gives the union the option to call for a 10-day strike notice. Union members would discuss and vote on a strike at a subsequent meeting.

The strike authorization vote does not mean a strike is immediate.

Members agreed that they had made concessions in 2011 and 2014, but believe if they let it happen in 2017, it will only continue in 2020. 62 or older thatentitle them, and traveling companions, to lifetime visits to national parks. The passes also provide owners with discounts on camping and swimming fees and other services. “We have been out of the senior pass for almost a month and we are not getting more in,” said Susan Knisley, ranger with the Division of Interpretation of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park near Chillicothe.

Brian Menker, natural resources specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers at C.J. Brown Dam and Reservoir near Springfield, said his facility has been sold out for four weeks. After The Dispatch on Sunday noted the looming deadline, things got a little crazy.

Among the facilities that are sold out: Caesar Creek Lake near Waynesville, Harsha Lake near Batavia and Berlin Lake near Deerfield. One disabled Columbus resident who made the fruitless drive to the dam near Springfield was unhappy with the whole setup. “The real story is why Ohio had so few sites and passes allocated. Why should I have to pay a 100 percent markup for a pass because of their bureaucratic incompetence?” she wanted to know. She was referring to the $10 processing fee added to the $10 fee for the pass if it is ordered online or through the mail — which park officials say if the surest bet at this point. To order, go to https://store. usgs.gov/senior-pass before Monday.

The union’s negotiation team agreed that it doesn’t want to strike, but said it may be necessary to get the administration to give fair wages and what some called an equitable contract.

Members think proposed salaries and changes to course-load policies signal a lack of respect for faculty’s role in student success and would undermine the quality of programs offered at YSU, said Linda Strom, Youngstown State University-Ohio Education Association faculty union spokesperson and YSU English Department associate professor, in a statement.