Over the years, a lot of companies and celebrities have seemingly profited from the historical mistreatment and misrepresentation of black people in this country. This has turned into a new wave of “bad publicity is good publicity.” This publicity is built upon the rage of black people. Time and time again, we see the outrage of black people on social media actually benefiting companies. There are no repercussions, but the community is forced to look at themselves and question what their moral beliefs are. How long will I stand by this?
Celebrities, especially on the Gucci scandal, have been vocal about their concerns; they’ve turned to other brands, satisfying their expensive tastes. Soulja Boy, for example, has decided to rock Fendi instead of his infamously memed Gucci headband. But Fendi and other brands alike are just like Gucci. As we have seen in the past, at a point in time, these companies will drop the ball again by being racist or “accidentally” excluding specific groups of people.
Supporting up-and-coming brands from people from your own community is a great solution. The events concerning Prada, Gucci, and H&M are prime examples for why communities need to take more pride in the products by their own communities.
The media and celebrities do a good job of pushing the cool brands and styles. But if individuals can give more thought to who we support, their influence would decrease.
There are many ideas being thrown around on social media including boycotting those brands that are not sensitive to all types of people. If you are able to buy Gucci products, simply think about your morals to determine whether or not this is a brand that you want to continue supporting. The boycott, in my opinion, may not be necessary if it is being done to get an apology from someone or to have someone respect you and your dollars. There is no need to beg for respect from people who will blatantly disrespect you and gain free publicity from your outrage, when there are so many people of color and women whose businesses need support. What is necessary is a diverse group of qualified people to be hired on a diversity committee for all companies.
These committees or councils need to be the ones that have a legitimate voice in the company. They are one of the ones to veto and idea or not. If this was in place, this would not have been able to slide by into the online and physical stores. Every company needs the perspective of every type of audience to make sure that they are meeting their customer’s needs and not offending anyone. How could companies that have lasted for almost a century not implement this simple addition into the fabric of their work culture?
