One Man Perfectly Shut Down People Who Called Forever 21 Racist Over White Model In A Wakanda Sweater
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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”
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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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.
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...
All people are humans. Not more, and not less. Once this is truly appreciated, the world will be much better than it is today.
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!!
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.
No, only russians can wear shirts featuring Black Widow.
Wow. I agree. What a ball of shit. 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!!!!"
Noup, because it's BLACK Widow, so, you know, highly inappropriate and (of course) offensive. But hey, you can be that Joker's chick, Harley Q, or the Poison Ivy.
@Nanni Obviously you don't follow comics or superheroes or you'd realize that you just compared being a superhero to being two villains. There's plenty of white female superheroes to choose from. Wasp, Wonder Woman, and Elektra to name a few.
But she's talking about Marvel, and X-Men got plenty of Caucasian female heroes. ♥
Black Widow? That's racist!
Does nobody realize that she’s named after the damn spider and having “black” in her name does not make it racist! It’s a S P I D E R
Exactly.
The racist people are crying about racism, completely oblivious just how racist they and their comments are. So basically Twitter in a nutshell.
As Totodollaz said up there within this post, "It's a fictional world and people created by a white man's vision". (Pun intended...? Will remain a mystery...) Anyway, you're right.
Oh god, this is incredibly stupid. Only black people are supposed to wear that, huh? Just a tiny bit racist.
Exactly what I thought.
thats like saying other people cant like mulan cuz shes asian
If Mulan were made today for the first time, they'd accuse Disney of cultural appropriation.
And here I thought Disney was accused of whitewashing their princesses only recently.
This shit is honestly getting old. Comments of some people are blowing my mind. Some random dude is 'highly offended'. WHY are YOU offended?! I'm not offended because a group of people protested against a company who thought that that dude in that sweater looked cool, but you all racist morons thought it was highly inappropriate and offensive. It's a fictional country, while that dude is real. Maybe he's a really really cool guy. Maybe this was a great opportunity for him which could've been a huge breakthrough for him. Obviously, not happening in that blah sweater.
"It's a fictional country, while that dude is real." ← this! The most important detail in this whole story.
why people are not happy that a WHITE person wear Something BLACK people can relate? it's not a goal? having white people love stuff about black people? at this point other than north people nobody should celebrated Christmas and santa claus
wow so i stated the FACT that christmas startd in the middle east while the northern countries in that time were pagans so boredpanda hides comments that are only a fact
Christmas was actually a Roman invention. You probably shouldn't comment on "history" without knowing any basics about history. First mention of Christmas was in 336 A.D. when the emperor Constantine merged the historic winter solstice festival/sol invictus (son god) festival into one holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born under the Roman empire and his births holiday was created within the Roman empire by a Roman emperor.
a meeting winter could be a pagan holiday!
so its a mediterrean thing wich includes the middle east still not northern try again
and ppl downvote a historic fact lol next yo gonna downvote if i say stalin and hitler were massmurder
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christmas=christs mass is a christian not northern thing if any it would be a middle eastern thing
Forver21 apologized and removed the ad? Bullying works! If you are loud enough, you are getting your way! Whether you're right or not is not important! I thought I've read an article about that somewhere!
Just once I wanna see a company with a loaded owner who's about to retire anyway issue a tweet that either gives the dictionary definition of hypocrisy (which SJW's are chock full of), or to have it simply say "Go fuck yourself" and be done with it. I can't imagine how satisfying that would feel.
Reminds me of those spineless Store managers who cave in to an entitled costumers bullshit complaint in order to make them leave
Is cultural appropriation a thing? absolutely. but it's been taken to such an extreme of "black ppl can only do black things" and "white people can only do white things". I might as well just put on my pith helmet and go make some butter sculptures of Martha stewart. Better say goodbye to sushi, empanadas, tacos and thai food while I'm at it, not to mention jazz and studio Ghibli. It's *important* for people to be exposed to cultures other than their own. Most modern innovations that save lives come from the spread of culture.
I hate it when people see racism where there isn't any. Surely, they are the ones being racist?
The fact that a former brand specialist (Mark-Paul) feels "highly offended" is HILARIOUS.
This? Racist? Are people out of their minds?!?!?!
Yes, the Sjw movement has lost all sense if proportion. And had their sense of humour removed as well if I'm any judge.
Guess I need to toss all my Bugs Bunny and Winnie the Pooh t-shirts. Neither a bunny nor a bear I be. Sigh...
Wooow...the racist part is the fact people are upset he's white. Who the fuck cares? Equality is not caring about race, if you're upset about this you're no better than a member of the KKK.
I'm black and I don't see what's wrong with this at all. There are plenty of real racist people around, so I'm not wasting my time being offended over a non-issue.
Heres a thought.... no one gives a shit there are bigger issues in the world than what colour you have to be to like a certain movie.😂
The tweets are more racists.. Why a white boy can like a black superhero??
How ridiculous. He looked amazing with that sweater, the colours look really good with his skin tone.
Yep, I was about to write this. Also, we may read this as an evidence that popculture connects people: look, "the whitest of white people" boy is wearing something connected to (fictive) "black" culture. Cool. But no, we better start a big drama and start looking for inappropiation.
Wait... They're outraged because of the WRONG skin color and call it racist?? Hah! Irony? What irony? =)
F'n stupid... color, race, gender, sexual preference, etc. shouldn't matter. These dipshits are showing the world their prejudice which obviously they think is ok - it isn't.
The same people who scream about wanting equality get offended when they actually get it. Superheroes are for everyone. Imagine what would happen if we called out black people for wearing an Iron Man or Batman shirt? But that would never happen because it's just downright stupid and wrong to even entertain it.
If we truly live in a country heck a WORLD where everyone is equal then that means a white man can whatever the heck he wants as long as he respects the culture that goes along with it. I am from India and I have met people who say things along the lines of, "Oh yeah I've been to an Indian wedding, I wore the little sash thing and the crop top. It's so cute!" or maybe this, "I belly danced in the little costume we had to wear at the Indian wedding I was invited to" I am completely fine with people from other cultures and parts of the world wearing saris but you better not call my cultures traditional clothing a crop top and sash. Is this white man not worthy of wearing that sweater? Is he not good enough because his skin tone isn't dark enough? Isn't that not racism? Saying someone can't do something or wear something because of their skin tone?
Goddamit, is an imaginary country! In this context, ladies, don't wear white leggins, Smurfs can be easily offended!
White people aren't allowed to express they enjoy a movie with 90% black cast? People will never be happy.
Hahahahahahahaha!! So also, everyone who ever went on a holiday anywhere, where main population skin colour is NOT white and bought a souvenir T-shirt or summat, BURN IT WITH FIRE! You are NOT allowed to wear it if you're white. Wtf people?
WTF man.....how is it racist to wear a Wakanda sweater!? So they loved black panther, and that makes them racist?? Too many bloody snowflakes out there getting triggered by everything. GET A LIFE!!!
Two of the best comebacks I read about this topic... "sorry to be offensive to your imaginary nation" "Sorry to enjoy this piece of your culture created by two white jews I love"
If they think it's racist, I think it's more racist to get offended by such photo and think that only black people can wear it. Oh gosh, what's wrong with people? It makes me think that they just enjoy playing as the victim. On the other hand, I don't understand why Forever 21 just removed it without conveying their intentions properly on why they displayed the photo in the first place. Yeah people don't like it so let's remove it and that's it. It makes me say "whut?" Is it just pure business? It could have been their chance to put some "sense" on that photo and try stuffing it into those "mah-heart-mah-sole delicate" creatures' minds.
They removed it because they aren't in the business of taking sides either way with social fuck-all. They just want this to go away so they can continue to sell clothes and satisfy their shareholders, like any normal company does. I guarantee the owners don't give a fuck.
white model for black clothing outrage arabs enslaving genociding raping millions of black people crickets to me the worldwide black community has its priorities wrong how u gonna complain about someone doing something harmless but u stay quiet when arabs in lybia literally genocide blacks and enslave women and children this world is insane yall care more bout shirts than about women being raped about men being mutilated and then yall expect whites to give a shit bout what you have to say smh
God people need to just shut up and stop getting offended by literally everything. People really need to gage what is actually offensive like politicians trying to pass discriminatory law against he LGBT and other groups and stupid crap like a white wearing a fake African nation Christmas sweater.
I am more upset with Forever21 with caving in to these bandwagon idiots that can't tell a fictional land from reality. these so called "Woke" individuals are the epitome of racism in their comments about the advert being racist. Just freakin' wow...forever 21, grow a backbone and speak up for yourself.
The last tweet is the best and most hard-hitting. SJWs are essentially asking for segregation, and it's way more fucked up than an image like that ever will be.
It was movie with black people in it. That doesn't mean everyone else is wrong for rocking the gear. We don't own the rights to everything Wakanda. Stop it.
My 4 year old, pale skinned, bloned haired, blue eyed son is obessed with Black Panther, thats all he wants for Christmas. He has the shoes and I have had only one issue, a white parent told me that maybe it was wrong for my son to have those shoes. I told her it was wrong for her to even have that thought. My son loves Black Panther and he why not? I will not teach my son that him having a hero that does not look like him his wrong.
Your son is clearly transracial. He has a black persons brain in a white body. You need to get him on hormone treatment IMMEDIATELY and start the long painful process of grafting black skin onto his. Its tough...some people will ridicule him and you and deny your sons transraciality and existence, but you can do it. Be strong for him.
Melanin treatment is the only way for him to become who he was born as, despite his pasty lineage. Thank you for being so progressive!
Don't these idiots realise Wakanda isn't a real place? I hate how people attempt to make something racist when it so clearly isn't. If people want to see a significant reduction of racism, stop doing shit like this. Trying to make something be about race for absolutely no reason. I'm half black and can't get over how utterly absurd stuff like this is. Forever 21 had to issue an apology and took the item off their website?? That's disgraceful!
Question: why is it that black people tend to complain what other races do? I don't hear Mexicans, Asians, Egyptians or 'Whites' ever caring what the black race does, so why do they bother with anybody else? They seem to be more racist than their own racism. The store shouldn't have ever apologized as they don't deserve our degradation. Men are now allowed to wear our panties and i don't see women going after them or complaining over it. But, i AM very disgusted on the fact that movies seems to be obligated to add at least one black dude to keep 'blacks' happy, but i still won't go after them with a machete over it. I should buy that shirt and wear it to hit them where it hurts: a white scrawny woman wearing a shirt allegedly designed for the 'hood'. Then again, we're all allowed to be racists, right? There's no crime.
My sweet Jesus... could we just let ppl wear what the hell they wanna wear? Black ppl can´t do this. White ppl can´t wear that. Girls toys. Boys toys. Stop it! As we say : "El burro hablando de orejas"!
Im noticing that the media keeps covering these stories and giving these idiots the stage. They are just as bad... making a big deal out of all these petty issues giving these racist crybabies a voice and an audience. All they do is further divide us.
And we contribute by clicking on the article because we like being outraged too. I'm guilty as shit of clicking on stuff I already know will piss me off.
So the next time I see a black person wearing a superman shirt or a black santa I can get pissed?
Haha, try it and see what happens. Please film and post it.
Oh, no! It's terrible! It's probably the most important problem of this day! How dare they! I hate how today's people are outraged about just everything. Ok, maybe I do not understand, because I am "typical" white female, not even from any minority in my country. But... Wakanda is not even real? Why it is that when person of colour wants to dress as i.e. Elsa from "Frozen", but if white man is posing in Wakanda's sweater, people are angry? Al this fuss is not even a bit about equality, it's about how people like to quarrel. By the way, I have two favourite T-shirts: one with irish motive and one with Chinese dragon. I do not look like a "stereotypical" Irishwoman and I am not even a bit Asian. Now I need to throw these away, I suppose?
You mean I can't be in a suit and tie? I need to track down those Han dynasty attire
Oh. Dear. Lord. It's a SWEATER. WHY ARE WE GETTING SO WORKED UP OVER A SWEATER.
Many black people enjoy being perpetually aggrieved. In many cases it's easier than getting their shit together.
Ivy league students protest and claim oppression. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.
There are very real issues of race, color, economic status, gender and others in our society. These issues need addressing no matter who gets offended. But this isn't one of them.
A white model wearing a wakanda sweater? A total non issue. The outrage by some people about it is simply unbelievable
CAN EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!!! People would get offended by the statement "African Americans are African American"
So no white person can wear anything black-related....and no black person can wear anything white-related? Sounds like cultural appropriation. And no wearing of jerseys of any kind apparently...unless you share the same skin color of that particular athlete.
I am black and I don't have a problem with people of any race wearing this sweater. First of all, Wakanda is not a real country and secondly, it was created by a white man. All of this racial sensitivity seems to be who don't actually know what it's like to be the races that they are defending.
f4gq0t r3tarded n1gq3r cun7s get offended by anything. USA is failed as a country and it was doomed from beginning. USA will last up to 50 years if lucky. This shithole country isnt going to survive.
So are these people suggesting there's a segregated black section where there are clothes only black people can wear and are they okay with this notion? What clothes are black people not allowed to wear that is too white in their mind?
Wait so yall are telling me i can’t wear i goddamn black panther costume? Hmmmm. Logic huh?
Are these people saying they would be offended if they saw a white person wearing this in the street?? if so things are getting sillier. "Hey - I love that sweater but dare not buy it in case someone gets offended by me wearing it"
Wait a moment, so cause I'm whiute I can't wear Wakanda stuff? But I liked Black Panther and Wakanda itself was absolutely one of the biggest gems in Marvel's movie franchise...
the one guy had it perfect, "outrage media, ignore it" companies apologizing now-a-days doesn't mean anything at all, they probably have a pretyped release and just change the names lol, no one cares anymore
Twitter is just a cesspool. Seriously. 9/10 times when one of these "internet was outraged" stories pop up, it's because of some bullshit someone posted on Twitter. Can we just collectively stop giving so much attention every spat these twitter drama llamas have?
OMW!!! I am so sick and tired of this kind of c**p! Get a life people - stop causing chaos out of nothing!! Stop being so bloody racist and ignorant!!!
It's called marketing. I bet they have photos of black people wearing this kind of stuff, too, trying to take advantage of the movie to sell products. Think product sales increase when someone sees someone similar wearing the product? Why, yes, yes it does.
I didn't find anything wrong in that pic...
This argument is about arguing for the sake of arguing,. There are real problems out there in the world that need solving and a couple of twits, who have nothing to do, have stirred up a controversy where there was none.
At first, I thought this "Wakanda" thing was some Native American thing that riled people up, (Even then, it'd be ridiculous) but after reading comments that its a Black Panther thing?? LOL. Seriously internet has given idiots a voice for sure.
If anyone is really offended by this, all I can say is... better get used to it. There's a lot of white Bank Panther fans out there. I'll go so far as to say that most BP fans are white.
So, when I recently saw a young black man wearing a Deadpool hat, I should have been offended??
Those people are racist themselves! So hypocritical.
Hmm, what should I get offended by today? (throws dart at dartboard) Now anime fans are racist for liking Asian characters, even though they're not Asian!
guessthingmeansicanthaveone;/
this
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So... I can't dress my little nephew as a cowboy cause he's not from texas? As long as you're doing it to ridicule someone , you can dress however u like.
nonono everthing from white ppl is ok you can make fun of whites u can say you want whites to be excluded you can take their culture and make fun of its every non white person that has the right to claim cultural appropiation
Insert sarcasm: Oh and he can't dress up as an "Indian" to play cowboy and Indian either because I'm native and I said no. End sarcasm.
Lol.. What an irony..
Give the colored people a chance, rather than white shits doing everything a black could be doing (who knows maybe they just might be better than you racist's.)
This is just full of shit, why would they have a white man model a "Wakanda forever" sweater?!Racist people are wrong about people of color, think of this racist people seeing this right now, would YOU want to be kicked and laughed about just because your a different color/race??? Think about that for a bit ok. Forever21 get nrew models perferibly black people, because in life you nreed to exept them too.
I am not racist, and plus people can do whatever they want to do like wearing there clothes that THEY pick. Its rediculous
Still got my Cypress Hill T Shirt somewhere....
Forever 21 should not have removed the model full stop. These misguided permanently waiting to be offended idiots have now got their own way. Common sense should have prevailed.
It amazes me that people are actually becoming offended over something as trivial as this. I appreciate that Black Panther includes African culture and I love the idea that it can become empowering to African Americans. But white people(or, really, people who aren't black in general) can like him as a superhero too! They can't control their skin color any more than everyone else can. Are you going to start being offended if you see a non-white model wearing a Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man, or Dr. Strange shirt? People need to worry about things in life that are actually offensive.
NEVER apologizes to SJWs, they are cancer of USA!
I'm wearing a black panther shirt and I'm white... am I racist??????
If I wore a T-shirt with Nelson Mandela on it because I admire him and wish to honor him by making other people think about what a great man he is, that would be a problem if we are using the same thought process used in the Forever 21 criticism. So now we cannot honor other cultures by advertising how cool we think they are? I thought we were supposed to embrace difference and be accepting of other cultures and ideas. Let's not let a few short sighted people ruin cultural unity. Let's not bring back segregation even if fictional characters.
Just the fact that there really are people out there specializing on " hating" everything, keep it to yourself, we don't give a fat flop what you don't like!
Everyone is wrong. REAL issue: butt ugly sweater. The end.
He's handsome tho ngl
This mean that all black's who living not at the African continent - ARE RACISTS!!!
It is clear all thing, so all black's who living in not African territory - ARE RACISTS! BE KNOW IT!
This is absurd. When did Black Panther become "for blacks only". Does this mean I can't wear anything that says Wonder Woman because she's not black.
MLK must be rolling in his grave.
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Stan lee wouldnt be proud
WAKANDA DOES NOT EXIST! For Fuck's sake! How fucking retarded are these people?! (And dont u fucking tell me not to use the "R" word, because it may offend someone somewhere! Use you fucking brain OR a dictionary & see what "retarded" means). Fuck Social Justice Warriors!
Does that mean only Munchkins can wear an OZ t-shirt ? It's a made-up place people, like Neverland and Narnia
I'd be way more offended by how ugly the sweater is.
I have TWD Michonne shirt, what do I do? I am white!
Never have bothered watching the movie simply because of the 'political activity' that followed it. I grew up in the midst of that crap. Unnecessary argument
Rotten Tomatoes had it at well over a 90% rating right before it came out and a whole bunch of the commenters said things like "I bet this movie is going to be amazing". Motherfuckers hadn't even seen it yet rated it 5 stars. I wanted to slap the shit out of each and every one of those idiots.
Wait....isn't the idea of a Wakanda for everyone regardless of color, race and creed?
Yeah....no.
The bigger problem is the model looks like he doesn't want to be wearing the sweater. Wouldn't any kind of clothes sell better if it looked like the models looked they at least liked it themselves?
This whiny idiots are always of a certain age. Millennials are the absolute worst. Just the fucking worst.
Are we not going to talk about how incredibly ugly that sweater is? Why would ANYONE wear that.
So what exactly is outrage media? I'm not clear on that.
I have a "Big Bang Theory" t-shirt, but I'm not Indian nor Jewish. Should I cut Raj and Howard out of it?
Oh, and I'm not male either. Think I'll cut everyone out except Penny, just to be sure.
I do not think that this is a huge issue,like most people said here a person of any ethicity can wear anything (a black person should be allowed to buy 'white' clothes). But it is true that they missed the oportunity to include more people of colour in their magazines.
It doesn't matter who is wearing the sweater... if it had been a black man A WHOLE DIFFERENT GROUP (or maybe the same group) if people would be offended and calling it racist.
The only thing offensive here are his pants. They actually paid somebody to pick those out.
Why did I think the guy model guy was Awsten Knight from waterparks
I get it, tho. i get it.
All I saw was this weird looking guy wearing a butt ugly sweater. Thanks to Panda I now realize I should be offended. I'm still not quite sure what about but that doesn't seem to be relevant.
I don't have a problem with a white person wearing the shirt but I think it's weird they described it as the coolest monkey in the jungle. Are they referring to the Jabari tribe? Cause they worship the gorilla god.
It's very interesting that most of the comments in this thread are not from black people. The real issue is not about the piece of clothing, it's the marketing of a product based upon a film that showcases and lifts up black empowerment in world that has consistently and systematically marginalized black communities and black identity. Forever 21 chose to use a white model to sell this particular product. This choice further pushes the concept that black identity needs to have permission from a white person to exist and be successful. It was a completely ignorant and insensitive decision for Forever 21 to even consider using a white model in this situation. Validation: I am marketer.
It is a movie about a character made by white people working for a company founded by a white man which has sold to another white male CEO who is running a company founded by a white man. The man is wearing a sweater which first was mass produced in white countries. It is to celebrate Christmas a holiday started in Ancient Rome. It is a product made in South east Asia, by South East Asians for a South East Asian company to be sold at a store where most of the consumers are white. So in what way was this black culture? Forever 21 is a Korean company...tell me when Koreans have marginalized blacks. There have been HUNDREDS of black US soldiers convicted of rape/murder in Korea in the last 70 years...funny...I dont remember any Korean army subjugating Compton...Also Wakanda is a fictional place in a sub-saharan esque region. WHY WOULD THEY HAVE SWEATERS? What African tribe before whites harvested wool to make sweaters? None? Ok. Why would Africans wear sweaters? Its freaking hot in Africa. So maybe blacks should stop culturally appropriating. https://www.google.com/search?q=lebron+james+jersey&hl=en&authuser=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwii_aaWiLXfAhULblAKHZ0jCrQQ_AUIDygC&biw=1745&bih=915#imgrc=S8UXMSzvMTRALM: Heres a picture of a white guy wearing Lebron James gear. You think thats offensive too? Here is a white woman wearing a Lion King shirt. Lion King also is a make believe story by white people that takes place in Africa...thats racist too right? https://www.target.com/p/women-s-disney-the-lion-king-graphic-sweatshirt-juniors-black-s/-/A-53860331?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&CPNG=PLA_Women%2BShopping&adgroup=SC_Women&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=s&device=c&location=9014861&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1248099&ds_rl=1241788&ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Women+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Women&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=s&device=c&location=9014861&gclid=CjwKCAiA3vfgBRB9EiwAkfpd3DD_xo20vz0BxYkuZgGaeku5xzsx5oR50Hy2VmS-mj57ei4RZNuDQBoCbxEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds you are a joke.
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I agree with the people saying that they should have used a different model but I think they could have worded it better so it sounded like they were saying there should have been a black model but it is ok for everyone to wear it.
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I mean Forever 21 still isn't safe when it comes to me. Yeah y'all in the clear for this but don't forget the whole wool incident. And we're not gonna pretend that it isn't an issue.
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The Bloody film was a load of SHOITE so why all dem peeps gettin their knickers in a twist.....get a Fecken life You MOROONS that’s all folks........
because people have nothing better to do.
Just because you didn't like it- doesn't mean others didn't. Anyway welcome to the times when everyone has an opinion!
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The brand name explains it all? Forever 21? What do you expect?
Forever 15
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.
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...
All people are humans. Not more, and not less. Once this is truly appreciated, the world will be much better than it is today.
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!!
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.
No, only russians can wear shirts featuring Black Widow.
Wow. I agree. What a ball of shit. 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!!!!"
Noup, because it's BLACK Widow, so, you know, highly inappropriate and (of course) offensive. But hey, you can be that Joker's chick, Harley Q, or the Poison Ivy.
@Nanni Obviously you don't follow comics or superheroes or you'd realize that you just compared being a superhero to being two villains. There's plenty of white female superheroes to choose from. Wasp, Wonder Woman, and Elektra to name a few.
But she's talking about Marvel, and X-Men got plenty of Caucasian female heroes. ♥
Black Widow? That's racist!
Does nobody realize that she’s named after the damn spider and having “black” in her name does not make it racist! It’s a S P I D E R
Exactly.
The racist people are crying about racism, completely oblivious just how racist they and their comments are. So basically Twitter in a nutshell.
As Totodollaz said up there within this post, "It's a fictional world and people created by a white man's vision". (Pun intended...? Will remain a mystery...) Anyway, you're right.
Oh god, this is incredibly stupid. Only black people are supposed to wear that, huh? Just a tiny bit racist.
Exactly what I thought.
thats like saying other people cant like mulan cuz shes asian
If Mulan were made today for the first time, they'd accuse Disney of cultural appropriation.
And here I thought Disney was accused of whitewashing their princesses only recently.
This shit is honestly getting old. Comments of some people are blowing my mind. Some random dude is 'highly offended'. WHY are YOU offended?! I'm not offended because a group of people protested against a company who thought that that dude in that sweater looked cool, but you all racist morons thought it was highly inappropriate and offensive. It's a fictional country, while that dude is real. Maybe he's a really really cool guy. Maybe this was a great opportunity for him which could've been a huge breakthrough for him. Obviously, not happening in that blah sweater.
"It's a fictional country, while that dude is real." ← this! The most important detail in this whole story.
why people are not happy that a WHITE person wear Something BLACK people can relate? it's not a goal? having white people love stuff about black people? at this point other than north people nobody should celebrated Christmas and santa claus
wow so i stated the FACT that christmas startd in the middle east while the northern countries in that time were pagans so boredpanda hides comments that are only a fact
Christmas was actually a Roman invention. You probably shouldn't comment on "history" without knowing any basics about history. First mention of Christmas was in 336 A.D. when the emperor Constantine merged the historic winter solstice festival/sol invictus (son god) festival into one holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born under the Roman empire and his births holiday was created within the Roman empire by a Roman emperor.
a meeting winter could be a pagan holiday!
so its a mediterrean thing wich includes the middle east still not northern try again
and ppl downvote a historic fact lol next yo gonna downvote if i say stalin and hitler were massmurder
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christmas=christs mass is a christian not northern thing if any it would be a middle eastern thing
Forver21 apologized and removed the ad? Bullying works! If you are loud enough, you are getting your way! Whether you're right or not is not important! I thought I've read an article about that somewhere!
Just once I wanna see a company with a loaded owner who's about to retire anyway issue a tweet that either gives the dictionary definition of hypocrisy (which SJW's are chock full of), or to have it simply say "Go fuck yourself" and be done with it. I can't imagine how satisfying that would feel.
Reminds me of those spineless Store managers who cave in to an entitled costumers bullshit complaint in order to make them leave
Is cultural appropriation a thing? absolutely. but it's been taken to such an extreme of "black ppl can only do black things" and "white people can only do white things". I might as well just put on my pith helmet and go make some butter sculptures of Martha stewart. Better say goodbye to sushi, empanadas, tacos and thai food while I'm at it, not to mention jazz and studio Ghibli. It's *important* for people to be exposed to cultures other than their own. Most modern innovations that save lives come from the spread of culture.
I hate it when people see racism where there isn't any. Surely, they are the ones being racist?
The fact that a former brand specialist (Mark-Paul) feels "highly offended" is HILARIOUS.
This? Racist? Are people out of their minds?!?!?!
Yes, the Sjw movement has lost all sense if proportion. And had their sense of humour removed as well if I'm any judge.
Guess I need to toss all my Bugs Bunny and Winnie the Pooh t-shirts. Neither a bunny nor a bear I be. Sigh...
Wooow...the racist part is the fact people are upset he's white. Who the fuck cares? Equality is not caring about race, if you're upset about this you're no better than a member of the KKK.
I'm black and I don't see what's wrong with this at all. There are plenty of real racist people around, so I'm not wasting my time being offended over a non-issue.
Heres a thought.... no one gives a shit there are bigger issues in the world than what colour you have to be to like a certain movie.😂
The tweets are more racists.. Why a white boy can like a black superhero??
How ridiculous. He looked amazing with that sweater, the colours look really good with his skin tone.
Yep, I was about to write this. Also, we may read this as an evidence that popculture connects people: look, "the whitest of white people" boy is wearing something connected to (fictive) "black" culture. Cool. But no, we better start a big drama and start looking for inappropiation.
Wait... They're outraged because of the WRONG skin color and call it racist?? Hah! Irony? What irony? =)
F'n stupid... color, race, gender, sexual preference, etc. shouldn't matter. These dipshits are showing the world their prejudice which obviously they think is ok - it isn't.
The same people who scream about wanting equality get offended when they actually get it. Superheroes are for everyone. Imagine what would happen if we called out black people for wearing an Iron Man or Batman shirt? But that would never happen because it's just downright stupid and wrong to even entertain it.
If we truly live in a country heck a WORLD where everyone is equal then that means a white man can whatever the heck he wants as long as he respects the culture that goes along with it. I am from India and I have met people who say things along the lines of, "Oh yeah I've been to an Indian wedding, I wore the little sash thing and the crop top. It's so cute!" or maybe this, "I belly danced in the little costume we had to wear at the Indian wedding I was invited to" I am completely fine with people from other cultures and parts of the world wearing saris but you better not call my cultures traditional clothing a crop top and sash. Is this white man not worthy of wearing that sweater? Is he not good enough because his skin tone isn't dark enough? Isn't that not racism? Saying someone can't do something or wear something because of their skin tone?
Goddamit, is an imaginary country! In this context, ladies, don't wear white leggins, Smurfs can be easily offended!
White people aren't allowed to express they enjoy a movie with 90% black cast? People will never be happy.
Hahahahahahahaha!! So also, everyone who ever went on a holiday anywhere, where main population skin colour is NOT white and bought a souvenir T-shirt or summat, BURN IT WITH FIRE! You are NOT allowed to wear it if you're white. Wtf people?
WTF man.....how is it racist to wear a Wakanda sweater!? So they loved black panther, and that makes them racist?? Too many bloody snowflakes out there getting triggered by everything. GET A LIFE!!!
Two of the best comebacks I read about this topic... "sorry to be offensive to your imaginary nation" "Sorry to enjoy this piece of your culture created by two white jews I love"
If they think it's racist, I think it's more racist to get offended by such photo and think that only black people can wear it. Oh gosh, what's wrong with people? It makes me think that they just enjoy playing as the victim. On the other hand, I don't understand why Forever 21 just removed it without conveying their intentions properly on why they displayed the photo in the first place. Yeah people don't like it so let's remove it and that's it. It makes me say "whut?" Is it just pure business? It could have been their chance to put some "sense" on that photo and try stuffing it into those "mah-heart-mah-sole delicate" creatures' minds.
They removed it because they aren't in the business of taking sides either way with social fuck-all. They just want this to go away so they can continue to sell clothes and satisfy their shareholders, like any normal company does. I guarantee the owners don't give a fuck.
white model for black clothing outrage arabs enslaving genociding raping millions of black people crickets to me the worldwide black community has its priorities wrong how u gonna complain about someone doing something harmless but u stay quiet when arabs in lybia literally genocide blacks and enslave women and children this world is insane yall care more bout shirts than about women being raped about men being mutilated and then yall expect whites to give a shit bout what you have to say smh
God people need to just shut up and stop getting offended by literally everything. People really need to gage what is actually offensive like politicians trying to pass discriminatory law against he LGBT and other groups and stupid crap like a white wearing a fake African nation Christmas sweater.
I am more upset with Forever21 with caving in to these bandwagon idiots that can't tell a fictional land from reality. these so called "Woke" individuals are the epitome of racism in their comments about the advert being racist. Just freakin' wow...forever 21, grow a backbone and speak up for yourself.
The last tweet is the best and most hard-hitting. SJWs are essentially asking for segregation, and it's way more fucked up than an image like that ever will be.
It was movie with black people in it. That doesn't mean everyone else is wrong for rocking the gear. We don't own the rights to everything Wakanda. Stop it.
My 4 year old, pale skinned, bloned haired, blue eyed son is obessed with Black Panther, thats all he wants for Christmas. He has the shoes and I have had only one issue, a white parent told me that maybe it was wrong for my son to have those shoes. I told her it was wrong for her to even have that thought. My son loves Black Panther and he why not? I will not teach my son that him having a hero that does not look like him his wrong.
Your son is clearly transracial. He has a black persons brain in a white body. You need to get him on hormone treatment IMMEDIATELY and start the long painful process of grafting black skin onto his. Its tough...some people will ridicule him and you and deny your sons transraciality and existence, but you can do it. Be strong for him.
Melanin treatment is the only way for him to become who he was born as, despite his pasty lineage. Thank you for being so progressive!
Don't these idiots realise Wakanda isn't a real place? I hate how people attempt to make something racist when it so clearly isn't. If people want to see a significant reduction of racism, stop doing shit like this. Trying to make something be about race for absolutely no reason. I'm half black and can't get over how utterly absurd stuff like this is. Forever 21 had to issue an apology and took the item off their website?? That's disgraceful!
Question: why is it that black people tend to complain what other races do? I don't hear Mexicans, Asians, Egyptians or 'Whites' ever caring what the black race does, so why do they bother with anybody else? They seem to be more racist than their own racism. The store shouldn't have ever apologized as they don't deserve our degradation. Men are now allowed to wear our panties and i don't see women going after them or complaining over it. But, i AM very disgusted on the fact that movies seems to be obligated to add at least one black dude to keep 'blacks' happy, but i still won't go after them with a machete over it. I should buy that shirt and wear it to hit them where it hurts: a white scrawny woman wearing a shirt allegedly designed for the 'hood'. Then again, we're all allowed to be racists, right? There's no crime.
My sweet Jesus... could we just let ppl wear what the hell they wanna wear? Black ppl can´t do this. White ppl can´t wear that. Girls toys. Boys toys. Stop it! As we say : "El burro hablando de orejas"!
Im noticing that the media keeps covering these stories and giving these idiots the stage. They are just as bad... making a big deal out of all these petty issues giving these racist crybabies a voice and an audience. All they do is further divide us.
And we contribute by clicking on the article because we like being outraged too. I'm guilty as shit of clicking on stuff I already know will piss me off.
So the next time I see a black person wearing a superman shirt or a black santa I can get pissed?
Haha, try it and see what happens. Please film and post it.
Oh, no! It's terrible! It's probably the most important problem of this day! How dare they! I hate how today's people are outraged about just everything. Ok, maybe I do not understand, because I am "typical" white female, not even from any minority in my country. But... Wakanda is not even real? Why it is that when person of colour wants to dress as i.e. Elsa from "Frozen", but if white man is posing in Wakanda's sweater, people are angry? Al this fuss is not even a bit about equality, it's about how people like to quarrel. By the way, I have two favourite T-shirts: one with irish motive and one with Chinese dragon. I do not look like a "stereotypical" Irishwoman and I am not even a bit Asian. Now I need to throw these away, I suppose?
You mean I can't be in a suit and tie? I need to track down those Han dynasty attire
Oh. Dear. Lord. It's a SWEATER. WHY ARE WE GETTING SO WORKED UP OVER A SWEATER.
Many black people enjoy being perpetually aggrieved. In many cases it's easier than getting their shit together.
Ivy league students protest and claim oppression. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.
There are very real issues of race, color, economic status, gender and others in our society. These issues need addressing no matter who gets offended. But this isn't one of them.
A white model wearing a wakanda sweater? A total non issue. The outrage by some people about it is simply unbelievable
CAN EVERYBODY CALM DOWN!!! People would get offended by the statement "African Americans are African American"
So no white person can wear anything black-related....and no black person can wear anything white-related? Sounds like cultural appropriation. And no wearing of jerseys of any kind apparently...unless you share the same skin color of that particular athlete.
I am black and I don't have a problem with people of any race wearing this sweater. First of all, Wakanda is not a real country and secondly, it was created by a white man. All of this racial sensitivity seems to be who don't actually know what it's like to be the races that they are defending.
f4gq0t r3tarded n1gq3r cun7s get offended by anything. USA is failed as a country and it was doomed from beginning. USA will last up to 50 years if lucky. This shithole country isnt going to survive.
So are these people suggesting there's a segregated black section where there are clothes only black people can wear and are they okay with this notion? What clothes are black people not allowed to wear that is too white in their mind?
Wait so yall are telling me i can’t wear i goddamn black panther costume? Hmmmm. Logic huh?
Are these people saying they would be offended if they saw a white person wearing this in the street?? if so things are getting sillier. "Hey - I love that sweater but dare not buy it in case someone gets offended by me wearing it"
Wait a moment, so cause I'm whiute I can't wear Wakanda stuff? But I liked Black Panther and Wakanda itself was absolutely one of the biggest gems in Marvel's movie franchise...
the one guy had it perfect, "outrage media, ignore it" companies apologizing now-a-days doesn't mean anything at all, they probably have a pretyped release and just change the names lol, no one cares anymore
Twitter is just a cesspool. Seriously. 9/10 times when one of these "internet was outraged" stories pop up, it's because of some bullshit someone posted on Twitter. Can we just collectively stop giving so much attention every spat these twitter drama llamas have?
OMW!!! I am so sick and tired of this kind of c**p! Get a life people - stop causing chaos out of nothing!! Stop being so bloody racist and ignorant!!!
It's called marketing. I bet they have photos of black people wearing this kind of stuff, too, trying to take advantage of the movie to sell products. Think product sales increase when someone sees someone similar wearing the product? Why, yes, yes it does.
I didn't find anything wrong in that pic...
This argument is about arguing for the sake of arguing,. There are real problems out there in the world that need solving and a couple of twits, who have nothing to do, have stirred up a controversy where there was none.
At first, I thought this "Wakanda" thing was some Native American thing that riled people up, (Even then, it'd be ridiculous) but after reading comments that its a Black Panther thing?? LOL. Seriously internet has given idiots a voice for sure.
If anyone is really offended by this, all I can say is... better get used to it. There's a lot of white Bank Panther fans out there. I'll go so far as to say that most BP fans are white.
So, when I recently saw a young black man wearing a Deadpool hat, I should have been offended??
Those people are racist themselves! So hypocritical.
Hmm, what should I get offended by today? (throws dart at dartboard) Now anime fans are racist for liking Asian characters, even though they're not Asian!
guessthingmeansicanthaveone;/
this
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So... I can't dress my little nephew as a cowboy cause he's not from texas? As long as you're doing it to ridicule someone , you can dress however u like.
nonono everthing from white ppl is ok you can make fun of whites u can say you want whites to be excluded you can take their culture and make fun of its every non white person that has the right to claim cultural appropiation
Insert sarcasm: Oh and he can't dress up as an "Indian" to play cowboy and Indian either because I'm native and I said no. End sarcasm.
Lol.. What an irony..
Give the colored people a chance, rather than white shits doing everything a black could be doing (who knows maybe they just might be better than you racist's.)
This is just full of shit, why would they have a white man model a "Wakanda forever" sweater?!Racist people are wrong about people of color, think of this racist people seeing this right now, would YOU want to be kicked and laughed about just because your a different color/race??? Think about that for a bit ok. Forever21 get nrew models perferibly black people, because in life you nreed to exept them too.
I am not racist, and plus people can do whatever they want to do like wearing there clothes that THEY pick. Its rediculous
Still got my Cypress Hill T Shirt somewhere....
Forever 21 should not have removed the model full stop. These misguided permanently waiting to be offended idiots have now got their own way. Common sense should have prevailed.
It amazes me that people are actually becoming offended over something as trivial as this. I appreciate that Black Panther includes African culture and I love the idea that it can become empowering to African Americans. But white people(or, really, people who aren't black in general) can like him as a superhero too! They can't control their skin color any more than everyone else can. Are you going to start being offended if you see a non-white model wearing a Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man, or Dr. Strange shirt? People need to worry about things in life that are actually offensive.
NEVER apologizes to SJWs, they are cancer of USA!
I'm wearing a black panther shirt and I'm white... am I racist??????
If I wore a T-shirt with Nelson Mandela on it because I admire him and wish to honor him by making other people think about what a great man he is, that would be a problem if we are using the same thought process used in the Forever 21 criticism. So now we cannot honor other cultures by advertising how cool we think they are? I thought we were supposed to embrace difference and be accepting of other cultures and ideas. Let's not let a few short sighted people ruin cultural unity. Let's not bring back segregation even if fictional characters.
Just the fact that there really are people out there specializing on " hating" everything, keep it to yourself, we don't give a fat flop what you don't like!
Everyone is wrong. REAL issue: butt ugly sweater. The end.
He's handsome tho ngl
This mean that all black's who living not at the African continent - ARE RACISTS!!!
It is clear all thing, so all black's who living in not African territory - ARE RACISTS! BE KNOW IT!
This is absurd. When did Black Panther become "for blacks only". Does this mean I can't wear anything that says Wonder Woman because she's not black.
MLK must be rolling in his grave.
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Stan lee wouldnt be proud