H&M mother has said for people to 'get over it'

[WomanEmpire]

Apparently she has said on Facebook it's people 'crying wolf' and to 'get over it'

Wdyt?

I personally think H&M are counting their lucky stars and have sort of preyed on her, (this is very presumptuous, so I am prepared to be shot down) knowing that perhaps as someone who is native Nigerian and moved to Sweden (I think relatively recently, but again pull me up on this if I'm incorrect) might not be quite as aware of the racism that incurs in the US/UK, as those who live in these countries and wouldn't think to second guess in a shoot, because you'd trust such a popular retailer to not have racist slurs put on a jumper and modelled by a child, who could quite possibly still be called this by those idiots. Because I still can't believe that NO ONE along the process picked up on this.

I'm not saying racism doesn't occur in other countries but I have experience of those two countries.

Pennypickle no 'white supremacists* are attempting to dictate what black children are allowed to wear. Not sure where you got that impression from?
People are discussing the ad campaign, the one that H and M have already admitted was wrong and offensive.

Yes black people keeping quiet about racial insults/abuse would stop those dishing out that abuse in their tracks wouldn't it.

I think there is a difference between hooligans hurling racist insults at footballers and a clothes company which clearly did not intend to be racist. There was clearly no malicious intent in the latter case (and, while some black people have been offended, many other black people don't see it as a big deal). In the former case, it is impossible not to interpret it as offensive, and those racist bastards should be prosecuted.

No. I'm not saying that at all. People are free to feel whatever they feel and talk about it.

....and yet you said 'I do think that sharing their association between monkeys and black people in the general culture only perpetuates it'

So you think it would be best all round if people piped down about racist abuse they receive.

That seems pretty clear to me.

while some black people have been offended, many other black people don't see it as a big deal

Oh how very unsurprising that's how you phrase it.

I'd frame it the other way. 'many black people have been offended, and some don't see it as a big deal'.

Pennypickle Equivocating pictures of monkey on some other clothing somewhere with this top on this child in conjunction with the Survival Expert on the other child is a pretty big deal here. You're entitled to your own opinion. You're not entitled to your own facts.

You keep returning to this point about children not being allowed to purchase monkey tops. No-one has said that children of any degree of skin pigmentation should be forbidden to wear any kind of clothing item.

What we have said is that it was insensitive and negligent of the multi-national company H&M to produce that publicity image, and it should have been picked up on before it was released to the English-speaking market.

There are absolutely no white supremacists on this thread trying to stop ordinary children of any race wearing tops with monkeys on. In fact I doubt there are any white supremacists focusing on preventing kids wearing that hoodie.

This thread is not a debate about whether black children have the right to wear particular clothes. This is a(nother) thread about H&M's marketing decisions.

And for the record, I would much rather support H&M and agree with the mother and yourself, as I love H&M children's clothes and spent more there last year than any other clothing retailer. I'm not getting any personal benefit from feeling appalled at H&M's oversight and subsequent complete abomination of an apology.

You know, this is the only time in history I have ever seen people talk about being "allowed" to model things, as if modelling was equal opportunity in the first place. As far as I know, different models are constantly told they can't wear something or other because the stylists don't think it will project the image they're looking for!

I had a look at the website. The new arrivals in the boys' section were all modelled by the same five-odd boys. The world would not have ended if someone had realised the implications of that slogan and swapped two items round.

Zarathruster - are you deliberately trying to be a racist fuckwit? You've just suggested that the people who are upset/ wound up by the advert, many of whom are actually black, have something to "beat their chests about", a term commonly associated with gorillas??

Unbelievable.

His Instagram shows a boy wearing a variety of clothes, his colour isn't something noteworthy - he's a child. If he's happy to wear the clothes and his parents are happy then find. It's not like he's wearing a top saying 'bad boy'.

He's black, his mum is black presumably and it's their right to say what is offensive for him to wear.

Zarathruster just made a stupid racist parallel. Likely thought ooh I'm witty. It's just a racist being racist. Nothing new.

Debating with racists is futile really. Their views on racism don't count as they perpetuate it in many ways, including denying racism exists, trying to grade it into "ah that's not so bad", and assuming they should have any bearing on what black people think feel and say about racism.

They'll milk this one for all it's worth, there'll be another H&M thread soon.

What's the OT got to do with anything?

You can’t be this dim.

The beating of chests is referred to in the OT as a way of demonstrating your sorrow/regret/anger etc. That’s where the term comes from (incidentally it’s still used as a ritual in eg Shi’a Islam).

The phrase ‘beating your chest’ is taken from passages in the bible (like a lot of our language is). It’s used to denote the behaviour described above.

Other people aren’t obliged to limit ther lanaguage to make up for your ignorance.

WomanEmpire I don’t care about your issues, but your comparing black children to monkeys is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. Please stop.

When my oldest son (bi-racial) was little I called him a monkey often and he wore clothes that had ‘monkey’ written on them. Please understand this; in the UK ‘monkey' has been used as a term of endearment towards children for many years.

“He’s a little monkey” I’d say. “Are you a naughty monkey”? I’d say. I wasn’t calling him a monkey because I thought he looked like or acted like a primate. I was using a loving term of endearment towards my little boy, who’s in his 40’s now.

It hurts me now to realize that all along there were racists who saw him as no better than an animal and these same people believe other people think like them and so when someone puts a black child in a monkey slogan clothing they think they are doing it just to degrade the child.

It’s very upsetting to me.

I have lived in the U.S. for many years and I have experienced real racism. I have been ordered out of a university cafeteria and told I had no business being in a small Ma and Pa type store. Before you jump to conclusions I have to add; I’m white and it was a well known black university's cafeteria I was told to get out of and the other incidences all took place in black neighborhoods, a black owned store. In white neighborhoods we felt safe.

Stop trying to create racism where there is none. The boy's mother is correct, you are crying wolf and pretty soon NO ONE WILL LISTEN.

In which posts was I ‘a racist’ lemon shark? (Disagreeing with you doesn’t count as racism btw).

Have you noted to the frustration that others (black and white, on here and in the wider world) have expressed over accusations of ‘racism’ being thrown about?

lemonshark

’inane thoughtless vapid comments’

Given your inability to filter out redundancies (and understand the function of a comma), I imagine feelings of embarrassment are frequent for you.

Be kinder to yourself

lemonshark

I would be embarrassed to come out with some of the inane thoughtless vapid comments I've seen on here.

Please look up ‘redundancy’, and learn how to use a comma.

Vapid indeed.

*Zarathruster I'm stunned by the intellect of your reply, the way you calmly defend your viewpoint. Articulate doesn't cover it🙂

Anyway, I’m off to exercise my enormous white privelege by doing care work for peanuts.

Enjoy feeling outraged.

You know what they say MistressDeeCee, if someone has to resort to nitpicking someone's use of punctuation instead of focusing on their argument they've already lost

Ah bless

It's interesting isn't it, when you get someone who feels that they're entitled to defend themselves because they do a job that's beneath them, and they feel that they're supremely intelligent and have some sort of vocabulary and yet all they manage is obfuscation...

and yes, the use of 'working for peanuts' was noted...

I agree with that lemon

And once again NO ONE HAS SAID THEY DO NOT WANT YOUR CHILD TO BE DRESSED IN A CHEEKY MONKEY T SHIRT OR CALLED CHEEKY MONKEY

Two other quick points if i may

1. the term monkey has been used as a derogatory term for a group of people in the UK for many years

2. a few people have stated what colour they are on here, in my case white...i think you are fairly silly if you make comments along the lines of the colour of anybodys skin on here or family background if you dont know the facts....