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?

But what about the book itself?

Tesco shouldn't be selling the t shirt but why was it ever okay for that book to be on sale?

I've seen the book is one of a series so I don't believe the comment is about black hair so it would have been fine if a white mermaid but isn't that in itself discriminatory

*If just one black person saw this before it went live, it would have been stopped dead. The fact that no one stopped this means that no black person was in the production process from start to finish.

That underscores inequality succinctly.*

This. It is well known that the majority of people in publishing are white and middle class.

Mummy2017 Thank you for your rather insightful and intelligent post.

That’s truly terrible. Worse in the context that people often ask to feel black girls’ hair to feel the texture. Major fail Tesco.

Natural blond hair is not really fluffy is it? An Afro is seen as fluffy. So the blond one is not offensivesM.

I saw this and it made me sad. The person I love most outside of my children is black and she spends hours every day straightening her hair and avoiding going out when it's raining or damp. She has the most beautiful curls I've seen but has been fed a lifetime of messaging that her hair is too fluffy. It seems like a trivial issue but it does so much damage to people and it has to stop.

"Educating people about why something may be offensive is fine - accusing people of racism for a simple act that went wrong isn't imo."

^^This

"I think it's a case of just not thinking at Usborne (and, as PP said) a complete lack of diversity in their staff)."

What makes you say that? According to their diversity policy, they do far more than most to ensure a diverse staff:
usborne.com/about-us/who-we-are/promoting-diversity/

Natural blond hair is not really fluffy is it?

What makes you say that? My dp is swedish with very very fluffy wispy blonde hair same as his family.

I have jewish heritage and have very frizzy curly hair that people ask to touch or just randomly touch all the time. As i said i agree racial discrimination covers hair but in this case no it wasnt used in a derogatory racisit way so implying its all negative against afro hair is just a huge reach.

@itsgettingweird
So one black woman of Nigerian heritage that you've spoken to isn't offended so therefore 'it isn't offensive' . Is she the voice of all black people, then? I'm very glad she hasn't suffered discrimination, but her experience can hardly be taken to definitively represent the million + black people in Britain.

I must say these threads always bring out the people who have a problem with black and brown people. How are we supposed to change systemic racism and make a fairer society for everybody, when people will not listen to the people who are being affected by things like this. To those who are saying a fuss is being made about nothing are also contributing to the problem.

A bunch of Karen’s just wanted a moan. People are so sensitive now

[quote UmmH]@itsgettingweird
So one black woman of Nigerian heritage that you've spoken to isn't offended so therefore 'it isn't offensive' . Is she the voice of all black people, then? I'm very glad she hasn't suffered discrimination, but her experience can hardly be taken to definitively represent the million + black people in Britain.[/quote]
Not what I said.

There are plenty of white people on here screaming at other white people they are stupid and don't get it.

I'm just saying that it all blacks people find it offensive either so we maybe shouldn't be speaking on behalf of all black people - whatever our race.

And a poster here said she'd Jamaican and not offended.

I agree with whoever said pointing out why something is offensive is much better than assuming racism. Education is the key.

And part of education is for black people who haven't felt oppressed and offended to be able to explain why for themselves.

But OP wants to be offended.
She likes looking for ways to be offended.
I am fat, so should I get upset over every diet add I see.
What a way to be, never seeing the good in things just being offered by everything.

Yes I guess you can have fluffy blond fair. But in an era where some black woken feel they have to straighten their hair to fit it / build a career, it’s shocking that the immediate visceral reaction to this wasn’t ‘oh no’.‘Her hair is too fluffy’ is a rejection. I’m not black and I felt. Must be so much worse as a black girl.

That's bad. But what's awful is the defence of casual racism on this thread.

The number of black or mixed race children celebrating their hair on the many children’s model forums is massive. And in much demand for jobs.

Some spunkstain in a local village has gone round during the night (obviously billy big balls needs to operate during the cover of darkness) and stuck up “White Lives Matters” signs all over the place so yeah, I don’t think people get it.

I am fat, so should I get upset over every diet add I see

Not this tired old analogy. I thought this got old in the 90s.

I understand why it's sensitive.

But a black child isn't going to be devastated by this because they are books for babies. The parent reading it with them might be a bit annoyed, though.

Also not sure why Tesco is in trouble - there are millions of these books and they are sold anywhere that sells books. I suppose they'll now all have to be pulped.

Natural blond hair is not really fluffy is it?
My toddler niece has the fluffiest blonde hair ever.

@mnetname89

Which of the following scenarios do we think happened?

a) book author / illustrator / publisher thinks that BAME people have horrible, undesirable hair, and that this was a good opportunity to to share their opinion, and make BAME people feel shit.

or

b) book author / illustrator / publisher looks for half a dozen characteristics of a mermaid that can be described in terms of texture, to fit in with a touch-feel book. Mermaid illustrations differ in skin tone, and by coincide the mermaid whose hair is described happens to look a bit darker than some of the others.

I absolutely agree with this and I think unfortunately calling people stupid, racist etc for not seeing this as racist just makes them turn off from listening. It does me, anyway.

YANBU

Most blond hair isn’t fluffy. Let’s be honest!

A bunch of Karen’s just wanted a moan. People are so sensitive now

And on a thread about racism you use a tired sexist ageist slur. Why?