Three sisters were ejected from a mall in Philadelphia after refusing to remove hats containing a profanity protesting cancer, according to the Associated Press.
Zakia Clark and Tasha Clark were shopping with a third sister, Makia Clark, at the King of Prussia Mall on Sunday to buy funeral dresses for the service for their mother, Jackie Underwood, who had just died at 51 after a four-year battle with breast cancer.
The hats the girls were wearing said "FU*K CANCER." The 'c' is replaced with a pink ribbon, a widely recognized symbol of the breast cancer awareness movement. According to Zakia, it's the only word strong enough to defeat the word 'cancer.'
Security asked them to remove their hats, but they refused. Mall security began arguing with them, according to a report from Philadelphia news station ABC 6. At that point, security ejected them from the mall.
Robert Hart, the manager of the mall, says that he sends his condolences to the three sisters, but that the mall is a family place and the code of conduct prohibits profanity.
The mall released a statement to ABC 6, saying that the King of Prussia mall is a "family destination" and that some words, even if only implied, "are considered profane and can offend many people."
Makia Underwood pointed out that the mall sells clothing with profanity, both explicit and implied.
FU*K CANCER is a Canadian non-profit organization that aims to educate people about cancer awareness to help catch it at stage one when it's most curable.
"It's a head in your hands moment," the organization states on their web site as to why they chose to use the profane word. "It's not sexual or violent; it's defeated and defiant.
"Using these two words together gives cancer the visceral response it deserves," the site continues. "Taking such a private word into the public space is powerful.
"If there's ever a time to use 'Fu*k,' it's now," the organization states.
The mall has since apologized to the sisters and has offered to make a charitable donation to a charitable cancer organization.
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