Founded in 1983 - United for Diversity and Racial Equality

CRARR JOINS ANTIRACIST VOICES IN DENOUNCING H & M RACIST IMAGE OF BLACK BOY IN HOODIE



Montreal, January 8, 2018 — CRARR joins many voices in Europe and North America, including that of the CRAN (Conseil représentatif des associations noires) in France, in condemning the Swedish-based clothing-retail company H & M for its ad showing a Black boy wearing a hoodie with the slogan “coolest monkey in the jungle.”

The ad reinforces racist stereotypes and constitutes a form of racial slur against Black people. Both the ad and the hoodie slogan reflect a failure of the company to design, sell and promote products that respect Black customers and communities everywhere. Both the product and the ad should be withdrawn from the market.

CRARR calls on H & M to issue a public apology and reach out to Black communities in cities in which it has stores in order to promote more respectful representation, business practices and inclusion among its staff. H & M should also make a commitment to carefully reflect on the marginalization of particular groups in society so that the use of language, images and other advertisements which offend these groups will be avoided in the future.