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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.

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”

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: Iammo_25

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: felicianista

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: WhoIsMarkPaul

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: Lyracet90

Forever 21 has since issued an apology, and removed the photo from both their website and Twitter

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

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

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Many people supported his opinion and believed that neither the sweater, nor the model are “real issues”

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

A lot of Twitter users also supported the opinion that accusations of racism have no real basis

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: lunaticshii

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: HiqhOffMyAllure

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: themelaniedione

One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater

Image credits: lidl_peasant

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Neringa is a proud writer at Bored Panda who used to study English and French linguistics. Although she has many different interests, she's particularly drawn to covering stories about pop culture as well as history. While not at the office, this Panda enjoys creepy movies, poetry, photography and learning how to play the piano.

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Sam W. 5 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.

91points

María Hermida 5 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...

23points

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Hans 5 years ago

All people are humans. Not more, and not less. Once this is truly appreciated, the world will be much better than it is today.

15points

Atieno 5 years ago

This is so dumb. As a black woman who is trying to deal with serious issues such as rape, unequal opportunities, corruption etc. then you have people like this online wasting people's time! That boy looks fabulous with that sweater! It's really frustrating!!

13points

RaroaRaroa 5 years ago

It's disappointing that the likes of Forever21 don't stand up for themselves when they've done nothing wrong. If they'd wait a day for the responses from sensible people they'd perhaps not have done so.

5points

Lara Verne 5 years ago (edited)

No, only russians can wear shirts featuring Black Widow.

3points

Bonita Bielawski 5 years ago

Wow. I agree. What a ball of s**t. Relax people and find some real issues to worry about. Problem is they got their faces stuck to screens all day. They no longer see the world around them by looking at it. They only see it through social media. "Hey wake up!!!! There is poverty and real bloody oppression. Spend your energy there you bloody idiots!!!!"

2points