The Red Cross has issued an official apology after Twitter users called out one of their recent pool safety posters for being racist.
The poster depicts cartoon images of children in and around a pool doing various safe or unsafe actions. The unsafe actions had arrows with the text "not cool" next to them, while safe actions had arrows and the text "cool" next to them. The majority of the "not cool" behaviors were being carried out by dark skinned children, while the safe actions were portrayed by light skinned children.
John Sawyer posted a photo of the poster to his Twitter on June 20 and sparked a debate about whether or not the poster had a racist message.
Some on Twitter said that because there were depictions of light skinned people doing "not cool" things at the pool, the poster shouldn't be considered racist:
Despite claims from some that the poster didn't have racist overtones, the Red Cross' verified Twitter account tweeted to Sawyer where they said they would remove the poster from their website and create new pool safety material:
The Red Cross also issued a statement to its website on Tuesday about the poster, saying the organization regretted any "misunderstanding" conveyed by the poster, and expressing the Red Cross' commitment to diversity.
