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One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater
Not such a long time has passed since the fast fashion giant H&M got slammed as ‘racist’ for featuring a photo on their website with a black boy wearing a jumper saying “The coolest monkey in the jungle.” Now another behemoth of cheap clothes – Forever 21 – is facing backlash from the internet after sharing a photo on Twitter and their website, featuring a white model wearing a Wakanda Forever sweater. The advertised holiday sweater is inspired by the movie Black Panther – a huge Hollywood hit that was released earlier this year. Wakanda is the fictional Sub-Saharan African country in this Marvel story, the home of Black Panther. In the controversial photo, a white male model with blonde hair is sporting a purple, yellow and orange sweater with “Wakanda Forever” written on it and a Black Panther logo. Many were outraged by the use of a white model for a product that, according to some, was inspired by a movie which celebrates the African experience and addresses Western colonization.
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This is the picture that caused outrage among many people on Twitter
Image credits: Forever 21
The internet called out Forever 21 for being completely “tone deaf”
Image credits: Iammo_25
Image credits: felicianista
Image credits: WhoIsMarkPaul
Image credits: Lyracet90
Forever 21 has since issued an apology, and removed the photo from both their website and Twitter
Image credits: Elvert Barnes
The company released a public statement: “Forever 21 takes concerns on our products and marketing extremely seriously. While we celebrate all superheroes with many different models of various ethnicities, we listened to the important feedback from our customers and removed the product photo in question from our website and social media accounts. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the product photo.”
However, this guy had a completely different opinion about the matter
Many people supported his opinion and believed that neither the sweater, nor the model are “real issues”
A lot of Twitter users also supported the opinion that accusations of racism have no real basis
Image credits: lunaticshii
Image credits: HiqhOffMyAllure
Image credits: themelaniedione
Image credits: lidl_peasant
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What do you think ?
Sam W. 6 years ago
This is ridiculous. I am a white female and I love the movie and comic Black Panther. I have more than one Black Panther shirt, and he is one of my favorite Marvel superheroes. I'm sorry, does this mean I can only wear shirts featuring Black Widow? No. It is so freaking stupid that people get offended over every little thing. America is screwed if this is what it's gonna be like.
María Hermida 6 years ago
It's not only America. It's the whole wide world! I live in Spain and it's exactly the same thing: one group or another always feeling outraged by small details or comments and then totally oblivious of really important issues like REAL racism, REAL discrimination, REAL inequality...
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Bob 2.0 6 years ago
Oh god, this is incredibly stupid. Only black people are supposed to wear that, huh? Just a tiny bit racist.
Daria B 6 years ago
If Mulan were made today for the first time, they'd accuse Disney of cultural appropriation.
Load More Replies... Sam W. 6 years ago
This is ridiculous. I am a white female and I love the movie and comic Black Panther. I have more than one Black Panther shirt, and he is one of my favorite Marvel superheroes. I'm sorry, does this mean I can only wear shirts featuring Black Widow? No. It is so freaking stupid that people get offended over every little thing. America is screwed if this is what it's gonna be like.
María Hermida 6 years ago
It's not only America. It's the whole wide world! I live in Spain and it's exactly the same thing: one group or another always feeling outraged by small details or comments and then totally oblivious of really important issues like REAL racism, REAL discrimination, REAL inequality...
Load More Replies... Bob 2.0 6 years ago
Oh god, this is incredibly stupid. Only black people are supposed to wear that, huh? Just a tiny bit racist.
Daria B 6 years ago
If Mulan were made today for the first time, they'd accuse Disney of cultural appropriation.
Load More Replies...
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