The South African Human Rights
Commission (SAHRC) met with representatives of retailer H&M to discuss the
recent advertising campaign that sparked protests at their South African stores.
mallofafrica.co.za
Members of the Economic Freedom
Fighters targeted several H&M stores following an advertisement featuring a
black child wearing a green top with the inscription “coolest monkey in the
jungle”.
The commission says it used the
meeting to explain to H&M the hurtful consequences of their campaign.
"In the context of South Africa, words such as 'baboon' and 'monkey' are not neutral, and were used to demean the fundamental humanity of black people. This association was used to rationalise the construction of a race-based caste system, which positioned certain races as superior to others,” says SAHRC spokesperson, Gail Smith.
H&M’s Rob Hekker says the retailer reiterated the apology it issued earlier this week, but admitted that it is not enough to mend the broken fences.
"We made a terrible mistake
and we would like South Africans to understand that it will never happen
again.”
H&M has committed to
instituting diversity training for its staff and to devising a plan to address
the issues that the advertising campaign had raised.
"H&M has agreed to provide the commission with a copy of the plan, by no later than Friday 26 January, so that we can provide input before finalisation," says Smith.
The commission says it has made
attempts to engage the EFF on the matter, but these attempts have been
unsuccessful.
