Gap apologizes for 'racist' ad

[TiphEret 1,320]

There is this interesting article on the Huffington Post:

"Though the ad has drawn criticism from many black people who find it to be yet another offensive example of the ways in which black women and girls are belittled, undermined, and dehumanized in the media, others have argued that the reaction to the ad is a wild over-exaggeration.  

Filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry played the part of devil’s advocate on Twitter, where he posted the Gap Kids ad and a similar ad featuring a black girl resting her arm on the head of a shorter white girl. “Does the @GapKids pic on the left make the pic on the right okay? Let’s debate,” Cherry tweeted.  

...

I (author of article) found the pose to be pretty harmless. And yet, it’s unfair to say that the people who do take issue with the photo are simply overreacting. Because it’s not the pose itself that is the problem, but the context in which it is delivered. The context being: an advertisement, with all the conscious or unconscious messaging that images used to sell an idea tend to entail. In this case, that messaging is construed by many as a black girl being inferior to her white counterparts. It’s a shame that these four little girls have been caught in the crosshairs of this heated debate, but the fact that so many people have protested the ad speaks to a reality that cannot be ignored.

The reality is that there are so few positive, powerful representations of black women and especially black girls out there that, frankly, it’s unsurprising that the photo would touch a nerve. That nerve, really, is where we should focus. That sensitivity, no matter how “over the top” it may seem to those who don’t get it, is still valid. It comes from a real place. It comes from a place that so many of the (mostly white) decision makers in the world of media are oblivious to. Perhaps if there were more black people and other people of color in positions of power in media and advertising, controversies like this one could be avoided. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-backlash-to-this-racist-gap-ad-is-complicated_us_57027254e4b0daf53af01148

At first I thought it was ridiculous but I have some black friends that got offended and I agree with the article, it is not necessarily the picture itself but the fact that in general black girls don't get much exposure and when they do if they have to be portrayed in a way that seems inferior to a white person, of course it won't be well receive. Also such picture would have not be chosen of a black person worked on the campaign? 

[Lion Heart 15,041]

I read this as "Gaga apologizes for racist ad."  

1 hour ago, TiphEret said:

There is this interesting article on the Huffington Post:

 

The reality is that there are so few positive, powerful representations of black women and especially black girls out there that, frankly, it’s unsurprising that the photo would touch a nerve. That nerve, really, is where we should focus. That sensitivity, no matter how “over the top” it may seem to those who don’t get it, is still valid. It comes from a real place. It comes from a place that so many of the (mostly white) decision makers in the world of media are oblivious to. Perhaps if there were more black people and other people of color in positions of power in media and advertising, controversies like this one could be avoided. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-backlash-to-this-racist-gap-ad-is-complicated_us_57027254e4b0daf53af01148

 

That was a good article.