A children's clothing company is under fire for the way one of its T-shirts was being displayed in a store.
Just Add a Kid designs tees for little boys and girls. They also provide hangers with little kids' faces for a cute take on merchandising the goods. One Just Add a Kid store location took it way, way too far and hung a shirt with a monkey's body printed on the front on a hanger with the head of a black toddler on it.
A company representative told Jezebel that the T-shirts and hangers come separately, and that the combination of the two is each store's call.
In an attempt to show no signs of racism, the representative went on to say that the hangers feature kids from different races, including "Africa-American," "Latin," and "Oriental"—although the right term for the latter is Asian, not Oriental.
Just Add a Kid has issued a statement, saying that the "inappropriate picture of a mismatched 'Just Add A Kid' hanger with one of our t-shirt products was not authorized, condoned or tolerated by our company" and that they "sincerely regretted the occurrence." Just Add a Kid has asked the individual store to change the display.
We get that this is the fault of one individual, not the entire company. That said, any company running a business should really think about the fallout that could occur if someone with misguided or simply evil intentions were a part of their workforce. Obviously, the store employees should display sensitivity to the fact that black people have unfortunately and disgustingly been compared to monkeys. There's no doubt that 2014 has seen marks of progression and strides toward a more just society. But it's events like this that serve as a reminder that racism and hatred are nowhere near eradicated.
[via Jezebel]
