NYT: The Racist Hoodies Menace
03/29/2018
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From the New York Times:

To Avoid More Racist Hoodies, Retailers Seek Diversity

By TIFFANY HSU MARCH 29, 2018

Annie Wu was hired as H&M’s diversity manager after the company was taken to task for a hoodie that raised complaints of racism. Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Every once in a while, tucked into the stream of speedily made garments rushed into stores, designs with shockingly bad taste stand out: a shirt comparing women to dogs at Topman, symbols of the Holocaust on a top at Zara, a slogan that trivializes sexual consent on a piece at Forever 21, or words like “slave” and “slut” used as decorative details on T-shirts at ASOS and Missguided.

The problem is not limited to fashion. On Monday, Heineken pulled a series of commercials for light beer with the tagline “sometimes, lighter is better,” after an ad sparked criticism for being racist. …

Still, distasteful designs will probably continue sneaking onto store shelves. Industry experts said cultural-awareness training and virtual sampling techniques that run spot checks on products can only go so far in a business marked by fast-shifting trends and high employee turnover.

Earlier this year, H&M, one of the largest clothing retailers in the world and a repeat offender, was taken to task over a children’s hoodie emblazoned with the phrase “coolest monkey in the jungle” and modeled in marketing materials by a young black boy. The description, which has been used to dehumanize black people, set off protests at South African stores that left mannequins toppled and racks overturned.

In the aftermath, H&M chose a lawyer and company insider, Annie Wu, to lead a new four-person team at its Stockholm headquarters focused on global diversity and inclusiveness.

Funny how reporter Tiffany Hsu thinks it’s a great idea to hire lawyer Annie Wu as a Diverse Person of Color to keep blacks from rioting more.

… Several companies have pledged to diversify hiring, retool corporate guidelines and initiate other measures to prevent mistakes from going out the door.

Zara now uses an algorithm created to scan designs for insensitive or offensive features. In 2016, it hired a committee of diversity officers. Diversity and inclusion training has become mandatory for all new employees.

At H&M, Ms. Wu said she was organizing workshops to help employees recognize unconscious bias and was also reaching out to anti-racism groups and other organizations. In North America, H&M is planning to hire a New York-based diversity manager.

Have you ever noticed what a huge percentage of New York Times articles about diversity are basically demands to give soft diversity jobs to people like the writer?

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