Message to the Modern Day Black Woman

Will the average black woman today allow her child to be paraded in front of the world as a laughing stock for a few dollars? It is quite unfortunate, but the answer is yes, for most young black women raising children in the world we live in. In the case of Terry Mango, who is the mother of the young child who was featured in the H&M ad for a green sweater recently, it was reported that his mother gave the notion that people need to “get over it.” Should we?

 

Let’s examine the issue carefully, the H&M ad published this photo for their ad 

 

What message does this put into the minds of young children by first glance? Instantly you can sense the fear in the eyes of the boy on the right, while the one on the left has a more serious stance. Children will look at this instantly and think to fear the one on the left. But then, when people read the words on their sweaters people will associate the one on the right with being a survival expert, and the one on the right as a monkey. In today’s society where our kids are completely obsessed with what’s cool and happening, they will instantly direct their attention to the one on the left, and think that it’s more cool to be considered a monkey when their minds should be directed at becoming a “survival expert.” Because of crafty ads like these, which H&M chose to display, our children will grow up thinking that this is accurate and that being a “cool monkey” is what’s happening. 

 

So, for the black woman to say we should ‘get over it’ is completely ridiculous. It is too big of an issue to set aside and ignore. How can we simply get over an issue of this magnitude simply because of one woman’s greed? Allowing a child to be able to see an ad like this is the cruelest form of child abuse. Not only does it come in the subtlest form, but it can cripple a child’s confidence and damage their growth for the rest of their life.

 

Message for the average black woman today raising sons: your life is more precious than you know, but so is your son’s. Putting your greed before their well-being is despicable and can cause you great anguish in your life that you will not ever be able to walk away from.

CLICK HERE to read more about the apology from H&M.

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Shaniya Baht Israel is a married mom of 3 and is pursuing her B.A. degree in Business Administration as well as her teaching credentials. You can connect with Shanaya at: facebook.com/shanaya34