It seems everyone enjoys capitalizing off black people and their insecurities about racism. If it’s not the Koreans on ebay listing “Nigger Brown” handbags, it’s Nivea having an issue with natrual afrocentric hair, or equally as bad, the latest Vogue reference of over-sized hoops as creole style “Slave Earrings.”
“Jewellery has always flirted with circular shapes, especially for use in making earrings. The most classic models are the slave and creole styles in gold hoops. If the name brings to the mind the decorative traditions of the women of color who were brought to the southern Unites States during the slave trade, the latest interpretation is pure freedom. Colored stones, symbolic pendants and multiple spheres. And the evolution goes on,” the ad reads.
The ad has since been changed to read “Ethnic Earrings, but seriously, even though black women may have worn big earrings since as far back as we can remember, when did over-sized hoops become a symbol of ethnicity, or even better, when did they ever become symbolic of slavery?
I’m sure after a number of complaints from this ad, Vogue will eventually issue an insincere apology, but the question is how many can we accept? Or, should we even accept any at all, since it’s obvious that what these companies are doing is intentional to create a buzz and draw attention to themselves.
[mashshare]
