To worry most people won’t ever ‘get it’

[OverTheRainbow88]

All the marches, Protests etc and people still don’t seem to understand!

Will they ever?

White people do not have a history of being denigrated for the texture of their hair. People have included links in this thread. It is easy to find information on the net.

@RyanBergarasTeeth

edwardcullensotherwoman. Did the ginger mermaid get told her hair was too ginger? No, Well then, it is not the same thing.

But the blonde mermaid was told her hair was too fluffy.

For how many decades have people with blonde hair been demonised, deemed unprofessional and been under pressure to have regular harmful hair treatments to make their hair more acceptable by western standards?

"Too fluffy?" But all types of people can have "fluffy" hair, can't they? "Fluffy" doesn't make me think of any particular race. Also, it doesn't sound like a negative descriptor for hair. If anything, I'd say it's positive.

This seems like an example of people desperately looking for something to find offensive, which happens all to often, these days.

*all too often

I don't think it really matters that there are other (white) mermaids described as having fluffy hair.

Black women have been criticised for their hair in all sorts of ways. Not smart enough, too big, not allowed certain styles in schools, insults about texture etc. Or treated like it is public property "Can I touch it" (WTF) and now there is a book/shirt with a black mermaid, hair described as too fluffy. Does not matter if she is 1 of 10 mermaids featured, they should never have made that connection given the history.

But fluffy has never been used as an insult against black peoples hair so its a huge stretch to go wild on a word thats never been used in a derogatory manner.

@alllthegearnoidea

This is absolutely not racist at all. Stupids posts like this completely deflect from the real issues behind 'black lives matter' and make it all into a bit of a joke, which it is not at all.

Publishers are trying to be more inclusive and then ridiculous posts and articles like this completely ruin it. Two steps forward and one step back!

If the publishers are forced to issue an apology over this I will be so angry!

Were you quite so angry at people being shot by police or throttled by police, or stopped by police for being suspected of being a black person from Yorkshire driving about in London? Were you angry about any of that? Or just the prospect of a white exec apologising for offense taken?

Also what happens with ameleoration in society? That will never happen because it seems any time black and white people have something like this used equally and putting them as the same somehow people will always use the past to refuse to change the future. Like this. The black and white mermaid are equal and have the exact same word used for them. A word with zero negative connotations in fact the word fluffy has positive connotations. So its racist as fuck to say oh no never ever refer to a black girls hair even in a positive/neutral/equal way to a white girls hair or else your a big racist.

My cousin's teenage daughter who has Afro hair is constantly searching for ways to straighten it so she can fit in with her White friends; it's heartbreaking really that she's been made to feel she has the 'wrong' type of hair...
this book's front page is NOT going to help young people with Afro hair to feel accepted & as for making it into a T-shirt well I'm glad Tesco have apologised!!

I think it's actually great that we have advanced so far in terms of racial equality that we now have space to address issues like this. It shows just how far we've come in a relatively short space of time. I see it as an overwhelmingly positive thing that we have a robust legal and societal framework for racial equality, and I feel very hopeful that one day soon, people will see skin colour in much the same way as we see eye colour now: as pretty much irrelevant.

Buyers on Amazon have been complaining about the book. The t-shirt is worse as there is no context. But even with context it is racist because of the adverb 'too' which implies negativity (and yes I know that's not the intention of the book, but that is the effect on black girls surrounded by blond silky haired mermaids and princesses). Diversity isn't a minefield, if companies just consult first. @Carycy That doesn't mean there has to be a black person in every single industry in every place in the country. Companies claiming they want to diversify can easily (and in many cases freely!) consult with organisations and charities specialising in diversity or race relations. It only takes a phone call!

There have been so many hair threads on MN and so much evidence posted making it absolutely crystal clear what the issue with hair is.

A PP said racism can only be called racism if it is done deliberately. That is completely incorrect. If that were the case then the BNP would be the only problem in our society.

I can't actually believe how much people have analysed an innocent children's book and turned it into something it's not.

It reminds me of the Ali G sketch where he says 'Is it because I is black' to every non-racist comment said to him, when he is actually white anyway!

This is really not helping the BLM movement that has come such a long way, why can't some people see that??!!

SimonJT Bang on. You get it, so do others on here. I am not going around in circles explaining anymore. If people want to know why it is seen as a problem to some, google is your friend if what people have said is not enough.

@Staffy1

I would be interested to know how many people complaining about this actually are black. I would have thought the marches were about more important things and making a big issue of things that weren't even intended to cause offence undermines all the important stuff in my opinion.

I asked my British born (with Nigerian parents) parents friend her opinion of this.

She said she wishes people would stop finding offence on behalf of black people. She isn't offended. It just a book where they've changed the skin colour of the mermaid and she's actually glad and would like to see more pictures of bame people in mainstream stories for children.

She actually said by pointing out you shouldn't have different descriptions for black and white mermaid you are highlighting differences that in her experience children didn't have and shouldn't be encouraged to see.

Then actually stated ripping the piss outta me because I have curly hair that goes fluffy when curly or straight. Her Afro hair is beautifully tightly curled and straightens like a gem.

She thought I should be more offended than her by the white mermaid.

So I guess not everyone is offended. And I guess it's easy to offend anyone and personal experience will play a part in this.

But I'm also glad she said she never felt any racism growing up which she was concerned about as we really do not live in a very diverse area at all.

@LunaNorth

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Surely for the tshirt you want the 'That's my mermaid! Her mirror is so shiny' page?

I had a look at some of the other 'that's not my' books and there's a black fairy in the fairy book with too fluffy wings (and a white fairy whose hair is too frizzy). In the angel book an olived skinned angel has hair that is too soft but no black angel. There are several black babies in the 'that's not my baby' book but nothing dodgy (fluffy towels etc) and the 'that's my baby' page has a mirror on it. I think it's a case of just not thinking at Usborne (and, as PP said) a complete lack of diversity in their staff). But at least they do regularly feature black characters (although none where the 'that's my' is black).

I thought it was ironic. Obviously it's awful if not!

Plenty members of my family have had fluffy/nappy/wild/bushy comments to describe their hair. Some are ok with, some not. But it isn't a secret that black people especially women have been insulted over their hair. Or treated like a strange fetish. So it's very idiotic of whoever approved this not think some people will make a connection.

*PicsinRed
*
Please tell me you're not comparing this book to actual horrific racists events?!! Get a life!

The publishers should not have to issue an apology because they have done NOTHING wrong!

@C130

SimonJT Bang on. You get it, so do others on here. I am not going around in circles explaining anymore. If people want to know why it is seen as a problem to some, google is your friend if what people have said is not enough.

I’m brown. So subjected to a different type of racism. So I very much get what it is like to receive it and to see racist things used in mainstream media, art, fashion etc.

People who come out with things like “professionally offended”, “but what about white people”, “the race card” etc all belong to the same little club.

And how often do we see it's the 'but what about white people' are the 'professionally offended' because someone calls them out?

I get the impression that there was a misguided attempt at inclusivity in the book and a shockingly bad choice made in the T-shirt design, as PPs have said further highlighting the lack of diversity in the design and production of both items.

Institutionalised racism is so predominant in our society, so overlooked and accepted that things like this can happen and we still have people claiming it's not big deal or anyone saying 'this isn't ok' is overreacting.

Have you ever seen videos of young children doing the doll test?

Really young children all picking the white doll as being more attractive, clever, well behaved - no matter what race the children are..

That’s why it matters - children shouldn’t be getting the message over and over again that they’re lesser, that their skin is wrong, that their hair is a problem.

Your offended.
Your child becomes known as the one who's mum can get offended over nothing.
Your child is avoided.
Cause and effect.

I get it. If I saw it in tesco, I probably would have raised an eyebrow, I’m just shocked they didn’t see it coming.

@Staffy1
I would be interested to know how many people complaining about this actually are black. I would have thought the marches were about more important things and making a big issue of things that weren't even intended to cause offence undermines all the important stuff in my opinion.
If a black person complained would you accept that? If not, then what's your point? The BLM marches have nothing to do with this. A shopper pointed out the racist connotations to Tesco who have accepted it, apologised and cancelled further orders of the tshirts. No fuss. Dealt with. It doesn't undermine 'more important stuff'.

But also, how do we get to the point where violence and racism against black people is so extreme that people need to demonstrate against it? It often starts with negative stereotyping from a young age, which absolutely has to be nipped in the bud.

@mummmy2017

Your offended. Your child becomes known as the one who's mum can get offended over nothing. Your child is avoided. Cause and effect.

Wow, blaming victims of racism for the behaviour of racists.

How many other victims do you blame?