H&M accused of racism for an hoodie worn by a black kid

H&M has finished in the storm with the accusation of racism.

Why? By choosing to pose as a model, a black child wearing a hoodie with the words "The coolest monkey in the jungle".

The juxtaposition of the phrase printed on the head with the kid's face has inevitably been perceived as a racist message, triggering on the web a series of harsh criticisms exacerbated by the mirror image of another hoodie, orange with a tiger dedicated to safeguarding of a mangrove forest, advertised by a white child defined as "expert" in the survival of the species.

The first to notice the racist potential of the two shots were Charles M. Blow, commentator of the New York Times, and the blogger Stephane Yeboah, followed by many others, among which stand out the reactions of the former Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng who wrote "Are you serious?", The Weeknd who stated that they no longer work with the Swedish store and those of LeBron James that turned the young protagonist of the image in a re offending by writing:

“All wrong! And we ain't going for it! Straight up! Enough about y'all and more of what I see when I look at this photo. I see a Young King!! The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied! We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that's what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!! ”

H&M immediately removed the shot and officially declared

“We sincerely apologize for this image. It has been now removed from all online channels and the product will not be for sale in the United States. We believe in diversity and inclusion in all that we do, and will be reviewing our internal routines.”