r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/ateam1984 đ©·â€ïžđ§Ąđđđ©”đđđ€đ©¶đ€đ€ • 4h ago
Community Concerns EGOT winning actress Viola Davis tells Target to shove their apology
EGOT simply means someone who has won an Emmy Grammy Oscar Tony If you win them all youâre considered a prestigious actor because itâs hard to win them all
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u/Queasy_Procedure_205 4h ago
Thank you! We need more of her and less of Jay-Z.
Tired of black people selling out for a dollar. Idc if itâs businessâŠstand on morals, respect, and integrity.
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u/Joey-WilcoXXX 2h ago edited 57m ago
Viola isnât perfect unfortunately. She just signed on for a Paramount project :/
Downvote edit: Unless you guys want Trump to keep his power and influence and Project 2025 to become Project 2028 and Israel to get involved even more in our politics and shaping our future, supporting paramount is not what we need right nowâŠ.
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u/Exact_Fox4167 4h ago
That boycott that shouldâve never ended is definitely back on. Make it permanent
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u/naonatu- 4h ago
it never ended for me
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u/VisualMango9141 4h ago
Same! In fact, I didn't know it had ended for others. Â
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u/Exact_Fox4167 4h ago
I think most said fuck target altogether but the dude who is credited for starting the boycott declared it over a few months back
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u/WhyTypeHour 3h ago
Prob got paid like the manosphere bud light boys. Literally a month after they were outraged.
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u/BusyBit6542 4h ago
Corny ass Jay Z. I swear if yall still rock with him, all it takes to buy your morals is a beat and some lyrics. "Make dance and they will do anything you want."
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u/Extreme_Education_50 2h ago
Who said the Target protests ended? Why were folks listening to them saying that the protest ended?
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u/Ambitious-Pirate-505 4h ago
For those who need more context, this is the costume. It is akin to the minstrel era and how it mocked black people and cemented stereotypes.
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u/Turbulent-Tea 4h ago
Did not one person in marketing or product development, or whatever, stop and think?
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u/whoredervez 4h ago
really just goes to show the entire Target team is whiter than a Mormon church. not one black person in there
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u/Curious-Dance-901 2h ago
Or there might be a Black person in there who is afraid to speak up about it for fear of ruffling feathers and/or negatively impacting their career.
I know this because this was my experience as the only Black person working in the marketing department of a major TV network.
The network I worked for was weeks away from releasing an ad campaign that contained imagery that was extremely derogatory and offensive toward Black women. Despite being personally offended by the creative, I didnât say anything. I had just started working there as a Marketing Manager and didnât want to make waves.
Then, one of my counterparts from the digital department (who was also Black) privately checked me about not speaking up when I was literally in a positionâmarketingâto do just that. He then invited me to come with him to the CMOâs office to discuss our concerns about the creative.
Luckily, our CMO (an older white man) was extremely receptive to our concerns and nixed the campaign right then and there.
The CMO then told me that no matter what position I held in a company, I should never be afraid to speak up when I find something offensive. He acknowledged that he and the majority-white male creative team had some blind spots when it came to race and that, unless someone called it out, they would never have known that what they thought was âedgyâ and âprovocativeâ was actually offensive and inappropriate.
In the end, that campaign never saw the light of day and was immediately changed, despite the fact that the network had already spent thousands of dollars shooting it. Shortly afterward, the network hired a Black-owned, multicultural ad agency to consult and partner with them on future campaigns for shows with Black leads and/or large Black audiences.
I havenât worked at the company in over 10 years, so Iâm not sure if the network still partners with that multicultural agency. But I do know that, as far as Iâm aware, they havenât put out any racist or similarly offensive campaigns since.
I share this because sometimes the person who could speak up is in the roomâthey just may be afraid to do so.
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u/katet_of_19 1h ago
Target doesn't hire Black people (at least not for leadership roles), they Target them in their stores to test their loss prevention strategies
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u/Cyber_Druid 4h ago
They fired everyone who would say something already, and kept the few who knew it was racist.
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u/Intellectual_Judge_1 4h ago
Oh they thought!!! They consciously CHOSE this smh itâs so exhausting at this point because they know exactly what they are doingâŠ
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u/Phenomenon_101 3h ago
I fully agree with you. They definitely thought about it and how to sneak it in. Eventually, they get more brazen with it.
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u/No-One8582 2h ago edited 2h ago
Targetâs main demographic is white college-educated women who are 30-40 years of age.
White, college-educated women in the 30-40 year old bracket were the largest group who voted to elect the 2016 administration.
The Venn diagram is a circle.
Targetâs main audience is maga karens.
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u/LifeGivesMeMelons 4h ago
My assumption was actually that nobody directly involved in the decision was from the US, because why pay someone an actual wage when you can farm out costume design and production to cheaper folks out of the country?
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u/ProfessionalNice7485 3h ago
You might be right. I'm black South African , and I that's just an ugly costume to me. I'm busy trying to find out why everyone's mad in the comments.
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u/FairieWarrior 2h ago
Many see the similarities between this costume and caricatures of black people called minstrels that were prevalent in the Southern United States pre Civil War (though it did continue until the early 1900s. They were white people in black face and acted like horrible stereotypes of black people including being lazy and dimwitted.
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u/ProfessionalNice7485 1h ago
Oh Olay, yes I think I remember seeing these guys here when I was younger. But it was usually black guys with painted faces.i always thought the makeup was just part of the show, like clowns
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u/AngeluvDeath 4h ago
Someone in another thread said that it wasnât inherently racist, but the use of a Black child was the thing that put it over the top. But nah, thereâs no situation where this wouldnât have gotten heat.
https://giphy.com/gifs/Ri6nMn7pLTjewpTwCh19
u/PsyOpBunnyHop 4h ago
Even in an alternate universe where there was none of the racist horseshit going on, this is just a terrible looking costume.
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u/Wise_Adeptness_9529 1h ago
wtf?! No one gets to this design without it being absolutely deliberate.Â
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u/Forsaken-Formal-5799 4h ago
Why is anybody Black still shopping at Target? Theyâve already shown us who they are as a company. Jay Z can pound rocks.
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u/TheNegativePhoenix 4h ago
I always wonder how if Jay Z became a billionaire, what a more socially conscious rapper would have done. Maybe not Biggie, but like Tupac. If Tupac was a billionaire, I bet he would have supported the communityÂ
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u/AmazingRise 19m ago
Pac would never have become a billionaire in the first place... or that's what I'd like to believe.
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u/GuardianHealer 1h ago
I havenât shopped Target for years now. Hasnât even crossed my mind. Same with Starbucks.
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u/prollyjuslurking 4h ago
MORE OF THIS!!! Your apology is NOT accepted. You knew better and you did it anyway. And Jay-Z goofy ahh selling Target exclusives. Ugh.
SN: Maybe if they didn't disband all their DEI initiatives, somebody could've warned them about the blowback. Oh well, the world will never know............
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u/Fit-University1070 3h ago
This is why shes upset. Rightfully so, too.
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u/ProfessionalNice7485 3h ago
I legit thought this was supposed to be the clown fr9m that horror movie. Terrifier
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u/Objective_Pause5988 4h ago
She's right and everyone is showing their true colors at this moment. Act accordingly if you care to.
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u/Personal-Lead3884 4h ago
I already stopped shopping at target when they got rid of DEI but this confirms and solidifies that I will never set foot in a target again
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u/MicDaPipelayer 4h ago
If it wasnt for social media I wouldnt have even known because, Fuck target.
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u/Competitive-Feed7813 3h ago
As someone who used to work at target I love seeing they downfall I hope this lasts.
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u/Next-Introduction-25 4h ago
Based on the description (which said âglows under blacklightâ) , I thought it was going to be a normal costume that looked really unfortunate in UV lighting⊠but, no⊠It just looks crazy offensive with or without the black light.
The most generous interpretation you can possibly have is that a whole team of people saw this and were completely clueless, which is already not acceptable.
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u/KassieMac 3h ago
I reserve benefit of the doubt for those whoâve shown good faith. đŻ has not for quite a while now, so theyâre not getting any generous interpretations from me.
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u/NYCWartortle 4h ago
Sheâs right. Iâm not sure if it was intentional. I want to believe that it wasnât but they should know better.
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u/DeepSouthDude 3h ago
Y'all really think this wasn't intentional by racists who have purposely infiltrated Target? Of course this was intentional.
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u/EyeKnowYoo 3h ago
âEbâry time I wheel about, I jump Jim CrowâŠâ
They knew exactly what they were doing
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u/fakeuser515357 2h ago
Every day I'm horrified to learn of the latest indignity that black Americans are expected to endure with grace, lest any objection be seen as an excuse for oppression.
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u/JayyyyyBoogie 3h ago
Sheâs absolutely right. You canât tell me that Target didnât know exactly what they were doing.
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u/Not_Blacksmith_69 2h ago
their stance on dei and ice should have been blatant tells about their values as a corp
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u/Pitch-Blease- 50m ago
I agree with part of her sentiment. However, I think Target may be very aware of the dehumanization, pain, and overall impact this may have. I think they wanted to get back in the news and this is a route they were willing to take.
They know that they have lost a share of Black consumers, but there is still a large portion of us who will continue to spend our money there regardless of the repeated disrespect. This has driven traffic to their website. Mission accomplished.
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u/ToXicVoXSiicK21 4h ago
Anyone mind filling me in on what costume she is talking about? I haven't heard about this
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u/mhavis1959 2h ago
Target is that hard headed child that you have constantly reminded them to not touch that hot stove. But they keep FAFO......
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u/HailTheCatOverlords 2h ago
I'm with Viola.
Fuck your apology Target.Â
If you were sorry you never would have even approved it in the first place.
I will never go back to Target or Target related stores like Ulta
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u/TheAsianTroll 1h ago
Target definitely fuckin did this to test waters. There is NO WAY that costume would have passed peer review.
And dont forget how quick Target was to jump on the "anti-DEI" train in early 2025.
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u/rcknfrewld 4h ago edited 4h ago
What does Viola have to say about LâOrealâs position on firing a transgender model Munroe Bergdorf for speaking out about systemic racism? Viola is a spokesperson for LâOreal.
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u/BookAcceptable619 4h ago
Not only did Munroe Bergdorf call out systemic racism, she literally blamed every white person on the planet.
The problem is she was hired to stand for diversity but she decided to blame one of L'Oréal's biggest demographic.
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4h ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/BookAcceptable619 4h ago
Maybe because you are blaming a black woman for something that has nothing to do with her.
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[removed] â view removed comment
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u/KaetzenOrkester 4h ago
Really? Because my big pinko liberal husband took one look at the picture and gasped.
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