Would you consider this racist? H&M advert

[BornInSydneyy]

A young black boy wearing a jumper that says -

“Coolest monkey in the jungle”

I genuinely can’t understand how anyone thought that was acceptable.

@Julie8008 do you not realise monkey is used as a racist slur?

The level of stupidity, wilful ignorance and racism in this thread has truly shocked me.

YES that ad is racist. A black child, wearing clothing that directly references the horrible history of white people dismissing them as less evolved animals rather than human beings. How on earth is that not racist?

I find it unbelievable that people claim they don’t know this history. And worse, the refusal to accept it when it’s explained to them.

I wish some of you would stop the world and get off.

julie. I’d say it’s fine for a black family to see monkeys in a zoo. I’d say that it’s not fine for anyone in that family to be referred to as or labelled with clothing calling them monkeys

BIWI. I am struggling to see how people keep saying it’s not bloody racist. Yes. It. Is.

Julie Did you know that there is a species of bird called the Great Tit? Native to Britain and reasonably common.

Here is a picture of a model wearing a t-shirt.

Tell me, is this t-shirt really aimed at keen bird-watchers? Or is there maybe a bit of a joke here? Based on the fact that 'tit' has more than one meaning?

I will not be stepping foot in h&m again, that's for sure

This is ridiculous, there is nothing wrong with it at all. Who is even making the link between black people and monkeys?.. that in itself is racist!..

I think Julie is playing dumb or is dumb. One or the other

Skyline The people who have been called monkeys for being black, by racists, for years.

Monkey is a common racist slur. It has been for a long time.

Fucking hell. How do people from ethnic minorities cope?

Is there any level of racist insult beyond the N-word that is universally accepted to be racist amongst white people?

Yep. It's racist.

Who exactly is it that is being racist? A black mother for buying her daughter a jumper with the word monkey on it? Or a white father buying their son a jumper with the word monkey on it?

Who exactly is being abused here and who is dong the abusing?

How many years has it been in the UK since a young child was abusively called a monkey by their parents? Not in my lifetime.

It just seems like a lot of people are keen to create and perpetuate racist slurs for god knows why reasons. Is it because they are on the wrong football team?

@PonderWoman, @80sQueen & @IMightMentionGriddlebone thank you! I couldn't have put it better myself. For those of you who don't get it at least have the courtesy not to minimise it for those who do.

Yes. Obviously as "monkey" was and is a slur used against black people. Particularly at school. It starts young.

Having seen various comments here and there online today I'm guessing black people are supposed to shut up because his parents must have allowed it...a la we must think as 1 homogeneous mass.

Or, it's being "precious" to think about the minimising of black voices when it comes to racism, by people who don't experience it and don't accept their own racism in assuming the right to tell us what to think about pur negative experiences of racism.

I know the family of Christopher Alder, ex army, died on floor of police station with police standing around making monkey noises or actions.

I hate that slur as much as I hate other racist slurs. What's different about it...? Black people are very well aware of the reasons why we don't want to see a black child with the monkey tag

No-one wants to believe H&M are being racist. But they'd have been well aware of what they were doing, no "unaware" pass from me. Ive seen a good few people say they won't shop there again. I'm glad.

I haven't dialogued with anyone saying no it's not racist/you're being over-sensitive etc as I don't believe in putting time into explaining various forms of racism to people who know it exists but get off on denying it so they can upset people who have to live with racism as a part of normal life

I see that Michelle Obama has been referenced here already, but for the hard of thinking, here is a link to the article, detailing exactly what the racist woman in the USA said about her (I'm not typing it again because it's offensive) Beverly Whaling resigns over insult to Michelle Obama [[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-16/ape-in-heels-comment-mayor-beverly-whaling-resigns/8029316]]

If someone can say that about that beautiful, classy woman who is the ex First Lady, then it hardly beggars belief that the insult is alive and kicking throughout the Western white world.

H&M have accepted their mistake and pulled the ad, but they absolutely should have spotted the issue well ahead of it going to press. If they had even put the boys in the jumpers the other way around, this could probably have been avoided completely - the orange jumper is NOT the same as the green one because it has a different slogan, one that doesn't suggest that the person wearing it is an inhabitant of the jungle. Worse - it suggests that they are a survival expert - that they have managed to survive in the jungle despite not belonging there.

I'm finding it quite upsetting to read how many people are refusing to accept that this has offended and upset many people. But then, if you've never been denigrated in any way for the colour of your skin, or the type of your hair, or anything then why would you understand? After all, in your "little village" mentality, anything that is outside of your direct experience can't possibly happen/be real, can it.
And yet plenty of people have empathy to realise that it IS offensive to people for whom the term has been regularly used as a racially-motivated insult.

Wilful ignorance is just so disappointing.

H&M's 'apology' is straight from the 'sorry if you took offence' school of non-apologies.

No I don't find it racist because little children are often called monkeys.

For one second will you pearl clutchers stop looking for a reason to be offended.

Of course it’s racist.

All of you saying it’s tricky, it’s a difficult one, they’re in the fence and it’s hard to decide - it’s not. It’s plain and simple racist, hidden in plain view.

All of you saying you didn’t even see it as racist because it wouldn’t occur to you to make the connection between the cute kid and the slogan - get your heads out of your arses and make the goddam connection. You’re not beyond racism; you’re just blithely letting the racism slide past you from your comfy positions of being able to.

As for “it is unwise because it is likely to elicit ‘oh haha, black child, monkey, snigger’ comments” - didn’t pass unnoticed by me.

'Pearl clutchers'. Really?

You are dismissing posters here who are describing racist incidents THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED, including being called monkeys.

But you don't find it racist, so that's ok.

The persistent ignorance on this thread is both astounding and incredibly depressing.

@Morningstarare you being deliberately goady? Or are you just stupid? Or perhaps you are a racist, and think black people are monkeys who should go back to the jungle?

Of course there's nothing wrong with monkeys, there's nothing wrong with pictures of monkeys on clothing etc. However this is a derogatory, racist term that I have hear used many, many times, and is still regularly used by racists. It represents hatred and supposed superiority. Why would anyone want even the slightest reference to that on a child's t=shirt?

Haven't read the whole thread and I've been up since 4am because my toddler (who won't sleep in his own bed) pissed my bed, so bear with me if I repeat anything already been said...

I kind of feel that true racism needs to have intent and I'm not sure the intentions of H&M were to offend. They were stupid, yes, because it is something that could offend and clearly has offended but I don't think the intent was to be derogatory towards black people.

It's a classic example of how we really do need to put a wee bit of thought in about how other people may feel with the way things are these days and a massive brand like H&M should have had someone that brought it to light before they went live...

Um, no? Children are called monkies quite often. Unless you are referring to the fact that monkies can be found in parts of Africa? They can also be found in many other countries. Would it still be racist if the kids was Nepalese? What if the shirt was about kangaroos and the kid was Australian? Tbf I doubt that they even made a conciliatory decision to put the African kid in the monkey shirt. You are reading into this too much.

I suppose it would be racist to take a black family to the zoo where any monkeys are kept. Would it also be racist to take a white family to the zoo where snow leopards are kept?

When has “snow” ever been used as a slur against white people, Julie?

Maybe you should get off for a while as you’re being a) obtuse and/or b) deliberately goady.

But @RestingGrinchFace it is a (sadly) well used racist, derogatory term for black people, that has been used for many years and is still in regular use today.