Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 13-01-2018
Clothing retailer H & M says it believes that racism and bias in any shape or form, deliberate or accidental, are simply unacceptable.
H & M have reiterated their apology following an advert that shows a black boy modelling a sweater with the print “Coolest Monkey in Jungle”.
On the adjacent page, a white boy is shown wearing one that calls him a ‘survival expert’, which caused furore on social media, with some users labelling it as ‘racist’, ‘offensive’ and ‘distasteful’.
H & M says it is aware of the recent events and have temporarily closed stores in Joburg and Cape Town yesterday out of safety for staff and customers following protests by members of the EFF.
“None of our staff or customers have been injured. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will open the stores as soon as the situation is safe again.”
Meanwhile Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says his party is not apologetic about his party’s supporter’s conduct at H&M stores in malls across the country.
Malema was addressing the EFF ground forces forum in Westenburg in Polokwane on Saturday.
On Saturday morning, scores of EFF supporters dressed in party regalia stormed the retailer’s stores in Gauteng and Cape Town, trashing and vandalizing them.
Malema says H & M has been taught a lesson stating that every shop that undermines black people must be shut down.
“We must not allow the humiliation of black people to continue. No one should make jokes about the dignity of black people and be left unattended to. We make no apology about what the fighters did today against H&M. All over South Africa, H&M stores are closed because they called our children baboons.”
Malema also summoned his party’s members and supporters to deal with any individual that uses the K-word on a black person.
H & M have removed the image from their channels as well as the garment adding that they are investigating why the incident happened.
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