Can’t make this up.
Via HuffPo:
On Sunday, Gap Kids drew the ire of Black Twitter after the release of their latest ad campaign, featuring Ellen DeGeneres and members of the pre-teen dance group Le Petit Cirque. In the video component of the ad the four girls, ranging from ages 8 to 12, talked about their humanitarian work, why they love being part of the troupe, and girl power.
The ad was meant to be cute and empowering while selling Gap’s new line of athletic kid’s clothes, but many people took issue with the fact that the only black girl featured in the ad, in one photo, is essentially used as an “armrest” by her older, taller troupe member:
While the three other white girls in the photo were striking powerful, strong poses, some people complained that the black girl appeared passive, more of a “prop” and a token than anything else. In the video component of the ad, too, she seemed detached and largely silent, while her white group members did most of the talking.
“It becomes problematic when the black child is positioned to be a white child’s prop,” explained Kirsten West Savali of The Root, in the wake of the controversy.