Uncivilized? How about unacceptable? Inappropriate? Unbelievable?

I saw this ad last night, posted by a friend (Kya!), and my first reaction was a very calm and sad “ohmygod”. The truth is, I was in disbelief. I wasn’t shocked by the actual picture so much as I was by how many times something went wrong in the process that it took for this picture to get to me. Someone thought of the ad, someone posed for the ad, someone created the image, someone came up with the message, someone worded the message, someone approved the ad, someone sent the ad to print, someone agreed to publish the ad, and all the while, a lot of people stood by and saw nothing wrong with any of it at all.

Admittedly, I have no idea exactly what the process I described above is actually like. What I do know is that for any publication, it takes more than one, and this ad was not the product of one person’s work, it took many participants and bystanders. How is it possible that among however many people involved with this project, no one rang the alarm?

I’ve read a few other blog posts about this and discussed it with a few friends. A frequent reaction seems to be “What if this was a white man? A white man with a bandana and long hair? A redneck? No one would be making a big deal”. I have to LOL at such comments because they are so closely linked to the ridiculous perceptions of post-racialists who think that race is no longer a worrisome factor in our society.

If it was a white man, this image would not be reinforcing the same derogatory perceptions of black natural beauty and of this beauty being everything except “civilized”.  This image would not be telling me, a white woman, that a black man walking down the street who embraces his natural hair and has an afro is uncivilized. This image would not be rooted in such a depressing history of oppression. If it was a white man, someone might find it insensitive. But it is a black man, and race makes a world of difference in the messages we relay in media. Because it is a black man, it is not just insensitive, it is unacceptable, inappropriate, unbelievable.

It is unbelievable that no one caught the implications of such an image, unbelievable that no one thought of the little afro-cladded boys who will look at this image and see themselves being tossed away for their “incivility”. It is unbelievable that no one thought. What’s next Nivea, an ad sporting a black woman with relaxed hair as she tosses away her uncivilized pre-perm head? Would there be nothing wrong with that either? Would anyone ring the alarm then?

I wonder when everyone will start paying attention to the world around them and the work that they are involved with. You should be just as aware of the conditions of our society no matter what field you’re in…from a classroom in the South Bronx to downtown skyscrapers where the big money makers do their work. Let’s pay attention and understand the implications of our work. Our time is so valuable, let’s do something we can be proud of.

I’m sincerely sorry for the people involved in producing this ad. I would hate to be on that side of this mess. I would hate to realize that I didn’t think and there was no one around me who was thinking either.