Jun
25
NAACP Is Hearing Things
Hallmark card that is supposedly racist
This story broke at the beginning of this month, but I didn’t hear or see much about it. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But, I thought it worth noting, so here goes….
You know those expensive greeting cards you can get these days with the sound chip that plays when you open it? Well, Hallmark has one for graduating seniors that they’ve pulled from store shelves all over the country, after being pressured and accused of racism by the NAACP. (It’s been on the shelves for 3 years without complaint, but now someone finally realized it’s racist?!)
The card has a space theme, with two weird little guys named “Yoyo” and “Hoops” talking about planets and solar systems and stuff. At one point, they refer to “black holes”, which some African-American “leaders” at the NAACP hear as “black whores”.
“You hear the ‘r’ in there. ‘Whores,’ not, ‘holes.’ The ‘r’ is in there,” said Minnie Hatley of the Los Angeles NAACP.”
Give a listen… I hear “holes”, not “whores”, even through my computer speakers. What about you?
Nevermind that “whores” doesn’t make any sense in context of the card’s theme. This seems to be another case of oversensitive people with a “victim” mentality, imagining insults where there are none.
Another thing that Leon Jenkins says they have a problem with is the phrase “Watch your back.” What? Is that supposed to be a threat to Black people? Or, just to Black women? Give the card another listen and tell me if that makes any sense.
No, the card is encouraging the grad by telling them they have the power to “take over” the universe — even massive, energy-absorbing black holes. They’re not afraid. It is the equivalent of saying, “Look out, world. Here we come!”
The NAACP did a lot of good in its early days — e.g., fighting against Jim Crow laws and for desegregation during the Civil Rights Movement. But, now it just seems to perpetuate the Black-as-victim, the-Man-is-still-keepin-us-down mindset. When you expect nothing but the worst and keep looking for it in everything, I guess you’re bound to convince yourself that it’s there, even when it isn’t. Honestly, I think Mr. Jenkins is trying to justify his job by finding things to make a fuss about — and, of course, cry “RAAAACIST!”
If they really wanted to do some good, Jenkins et al. ought to promote programs that encourage things like responsibility, self-sufficiency, merit-based rewards, self-esteem (but not at the expense of putting down or distrusting others), not blaming everyone else for you not being where you want to be in life, and an empowering, unafraid, can-do attitude. Kinda like Yoyo and Hoops were doin’.
Of course, it’s also sad that Hallmark was so scared of being labelled racists — despite the facts being on their side — that they caved in. CVS not only pulled the card but promised to “do some things for the black community” to make up for it. Very sad.
