Successful clothing retailer H&M has recently broke down barriers, but not in a good way…

H&M still to this day is under fire over the controversial advertisement that was put out on its website, featuring a young African American male (who by the way was just a young innocent boy), sporting a sweatshirt that labeled: “Coolest Monkey in The Jungle” across the chest area. An ad with such power to incite violence was produced, and the world went crazy over it. H&M has since apologized for the incident and threw down some sales, but was not let off of the hook that easy; with some incidents of vandalism and violence that has dismantled some H&M stores Shown Here. Many people engaged in talks over the message shown on the sweatshirt and it’s meaning behind it, with some saying that it is just a “kid friendly” sweatshirt that can be intertwined and switch out with any animal if the company wanted to, and some saying that the message comes across as “racist” and distasteful.

But probably the most controversial part about this incident is not whether or not the hoodie was seen as racist, but rather the lack of awareness and respect that people have for their own race and the race of others. Face it, there are many people that has spoken on social media in defense of this advertisement; saying that if It was another race that wore the sweatshirt, there would not be any controversy of this magnitude. I for one tend to agree with this statement, but not because we care more about certain races more than others, but because this is not the first time a store has done this to other races, and we just don’t recognize the signs that’s blatantly staring us in our faces.

So let me put this into perspective…

Take a look at the statement that H&M sent out to NBC over the sweatshirt mishap:

"We understand that many people are upset about the image...We who work at H&M can only agree. We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print."

Now let’s say that the statement shown above was made out of sincerity with genuine feelings attached. Would you be less inclined to accept their apology? I think not. Reason for this is because as I continue to walk through the neighborhoods and observe through social media, people are still buying their products, and conversing among friends as if nothing happened.

And what makes me sick is that the majority of the people buying the products in my neighborhoods and in others are African Americans…

Recently, I woke up to a video being shared around on social media. The video is in the link provided within the hyperlink in case you haven’t seen it yourself. It depicts a group of young men, who probably have a prospering future ahead of them; each with loving parents and friends that care about them, acting like fools in an H&M store over a sale that was given by the company as an apology gift.

Now I’m sure that this video was made in attempts to shed light to the negativity that has been circulating around the photo released on the website, but nonetheless it is still seen as inappropriate to shown representation of yourself and your race in that manner. We were not born to act like dogs and monkeys, and we were surely not born to summit to a corporation’s “apology sale” as a way to buy us out of hatred and racism that has defined and laminated our so called “stereotypical” driven communities. These stereotypes are clearly shown constantly in works of art, films, politics, and even in businesses and in our own homes.

I understand that racism will always be prevalent in our way of life. However, my problem is this: If we oppose the hatred and misconduct from other people, then why must we match that level of aggression and misconduct to satisfy our own desires and promote our own self- worth? Is our image that tainted to the point that it gives us an excuse to react to certain topics with intent to display an equal or more severe outcome? Similar to the police riots that incited us to destroy shops and neighborhood delis (that had nothing to do with the current injustice within our criminal justice system); should we continue to display violence as a form of punishment, thus matching the stereotypes that the system had thrust upon you?

Think about it…