Let me start by quantifying the fact that I don’t believe H&M intended to be racist by putting a young black child in a “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” hoodie. But it must be said that H&M must have been, or at the very least, should have been aware about the kind of furore that such a provocative image would spark.
During the creative process, someone should’ve spoken up and said “Hey guys, this could potentially come off quite badly for us.” Or even before that, it would have been simply enough for the stylist at the photoshoot to say “Hmm, maybe the white child should wear the ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle’ hoodie and we can have the black child in the ‘Mangrove Jungle Survival Expert’ hoodie.” This has been a critical failing all the way up the chain that has unnecessarily projected a young fashionable model with one of the coolest surnames going, Liam Mango, into the eye of a seemingly racially charged storm.
People were naturally incensed by the photo when it emerged on social media. Some people decided to react positively, with photoshopped images of young Liam in hoodies with slogans like “King of the World” or artistic depictions of him with “King of the Jungle” emblazoned across his chest.
Unfortunately, others decided to react somewhat violently, the biggest incident occurring in an H&M store in South Africa which was completely trashed. A blind attempt to ‘sabotage’ H&M, the perpetrators failed to recognise that the employees of that store aren’t the ones responsible for the hoodie decision: they’re just hard working people trying to do their jobs as best as they can.
If anger has to be expressed at a perceived injustice, it should be directed towards H&M’s upper echelons and the people making the big decisions because ultimately, someone must be made accountable for this as such a big, established company really should know better. If people really want to make a statement against H&M, boycott them and stop buying their products. In a capitalist world, money speaks the loudest.
The thing that disappoints me the most is the parents’ response to the whole incident. I understand to a degree where they are coming from, in terms of Liam being a young boy who’s just modelling a hoodie, but I really feel that they have missed a huge opportunity to speak out on racial inequality in our society. Whether this incident is a faux pas or an intentional jab at the Black Community, one thing is clear: it will not be an isolated incident because situations like this are commonplace these days unfortunately.
So was this an honest mistake, a publicity stunt, or at worst – deep-seated racism rearing its ugly head? Personally, I feel it was nothing more than a foolish decision. Let’s hope this is the end of any further ‘monkey business’.
Alex Ngoke
@AlexTD6
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