Is cotton offensive to black people?

[eponinepontmercy]

I just read this article.  I had no idea that this was a thing.  





My style of dress is classic preppy. My fashion sense evolved from my years spent in boarding school, where I was required to dress that way for class: khaki pants, fitted dress shirts, crewneck sweaters, and penny loafers. J.Crew and Ralph Lauren could have used our campus to shoot their advertisements.



Some of my Black friends say my style is “boo-zhee.” What can I say? I prefer quality over quantity, avoid crowded stores like H&M, the Gap, and Zara where you’ve got scores of copies of the same item. I love blazers—especially those with patches—and own too many to count. That, along with my passion for seersucker suits, herringbones, calfskin loafers, striped belts, colorful braces, and plaids make me a female dandy. I can’t help it: If I’m wearing an outfit that makes me feel comfortable and look good then I feel like I can do anything.



But shopping at high-end stores while Black, especially young and female, too often feels like navigating a minefield of assumptions, microaggressions, and thinly veiled hostility.



It usually starts as I step inside the store. “Hi, can I help you?” from sales reps with an over-penetrating gaze never really feels like a warm greeting. I’m prepared to be watched closely, or ignored when I actually do need assistance because they assume that I won’t—or can’t—purchase anything. When I ask to see an item, they quickly tell me the price, then pause for my reaction to confirm that I’m pre-qualified to see the merchandise. When that happens I usually give the sales rep my dead-fish-eye look that says: Did I ask you how much it was? I asked you if I could see the damn thing.



White shoppers, especially White women in their mid-to-late 50s and up often assume I’m there to serve them:



Miss, can you start me a fitting room for me, please.



Do you have this in a size 8?



Can you tell me the price on this?



Where is the bathroom?



Do you have kale chips?



Which aisle are the Goji berries in?



Can you throw this in the trash for me?



Excuse me, I’d like to speak with your manager.



Miss, you’re all out of the Ms. Meyers lemon verbena countertop spray. Can you check for more in the back?



What time do you close today?



Mind you, I’ve never worked a retail or service-sector job a day of my life.



Once I was in a Brooks Brothers in an airport in Chicago to purchase a sweater because I hadn’t dressed warmly enough. A woman standing in front of a set of shelves next to me asked me three times to “get her size.” I ignored her. Didn’t even make eye contact.



She huffed: “Miss, I asked you if you have this in my size.”



“I don’t work here, lady!” I snapped.



She shot me a look as if I had slapped her in the face, then glanced at my carry-on bag. Instead of apologizing, she turned up her nose, giggled, and said, “Oh, I thought you were just checking stock.”



I’ve found myself in Whole Foods with my groceries at the checkout line and been accused of taking a woman’s baby bok choy. Turns out, hers was still in the bottom corner of her cart.



As if those continuing incidents weren’t stressful enough, I recently encountered a painful symbol of America’s racial history in one of my favorite stores. On the day that the Staten Island grand jury announced that there’d be no indictment in the controversial police choking death of Eric Garner, my spirit was weighed down with sadness. I was still grieving the loss of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and the non-indictments in the Ezell Ford case and others.




I thought that shopping at Brooks Brothers would help soothe my pain, and that finding the right shirt or blazer would be good for my soul. Fortunately, nobody eyeballed me, followed me around or mistook me for “the help.” Things were looking promising as I made my way past tables of neatly folded cashmere cardigans and satin deco scarves. But then, I stumbled across a display with a small decorative bale of cotton stalks. In that instant, Brooks Brothers went from being a place for therapeutic shopping to a hostile environment. WTF? I thought to myself.



On a day when it was difficult just to be in predominantly White spaces, I was accosted by the sight of raw cotton. You may wonder: Why is this such a big deal? Because to African Americans, the sight of raw cotton is equivalent to a swastika. Without going into unproductive comparison of various holocausts and genocides, cotton is the icon that reminds us why our ancestors were snatched from their homeland, carted across the planet and subjected to centuries of nonstop horrors to build the infrastructure and wealth of this nation.



Non-Black people might look at the fluffy bolls and see something soft and pleasant. But we see endless fields of torture and misery. We are reminded of generations of backbreaking, soul-crushing unpaid labor, of the whips and stings of bare skin split open by whips and rubbed raw by chains. Of families torn asunder and nonstop rapes and the degradation and humiliation passed down in our DNA. We hear the Confederate anthem, “I Wish I Was in Dixie Land,” and it’s famed lyric:



Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,



Old times there are not forgotten …



Sure, we wear cotton, sit on it, sleep on it, and use it in everyday items just as everyone else does. But raw cotton is every bit as painful and offensive as those other visuals icons of white supremacy: the Confederate flag, burning crosses, KKK regalia, and lynched black bodies hanging from trees. It’s a form of the N-word that we can see and touch and smell.



So standing in Brooks Brothers, visions of the perfect shirt or blazer temporarily wiped from my mind, I realized that I needed to address this faux pas. I was calm and gracious as I pulled one of the workers aside, a nice White lady whose nametag said “Helen.”



“Excuse me,” I said to her. She smiled expectantly. I pointed at the cotton display and made a face as if it stunk to high heaven. “Can you all please stop decorating your stores with cotton?”



“Oh,” she said, appearing confused as she looked between me and the display. “What’s wrong with it? Why don’t you like it?”



“My ancestors in Virginia had to pick that,” I said wearily. “I don’t want to see it in my face while I’m shopping.” Just like I don’t like going to urban stores like G-Star Raw and being verbally assaulted by the n-word and misogynist and homophobic rap lyrics blasting from the speakers.



Helen’s eyebrows converged, the blood ran out of her face, and her entire spirit dropped down into her loafers. She looked at that cotton as if she was seeing it for the very first time. I stormed away from her and continued shopping. On the way out with my crisp new 100-percent cotton fitted shirt in hand, Helen smiled at me and said, “Thanks for shopping with us.”



I responded by nodding back at the cotton display and saying, in my haughty Maya Angelou tone of voice: “Make it go away, Helen.” I went by to check the next day, and the display was gone, evidence that Helen took a lesson from that teachable moment.



I’d had a similar experience when I lived in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn as it was becoming gentrified. A new plant shop opened up on Myrtle Avenue next to a Black-owned barbershop. The shop was run by a 30-something White woman and man; let’s call them Ashton and Jenny.



Walking past, I made a note to stop in when I saw it: a huge tin bucket of cotton stalks displayed outside the store. Understand, despite gentrification, Black folks were still in the neighborhood and many of us lamented the overnight influx of White people and all that came with it – high rents and food prices, the entitlement, colonization, pricing out, amped up and overaggressive policing of people of color, and complaints about how loud and long our church services are. So I stood frozen, mouth gaping outside the shop next to a chalkboard listing prices of various kinds of plants. A Black man walking by popped his head in the doorway and yelled: “Y’all on some shit! You in a Black neighborhood sellin’ cotton. That’s that bullshit right here.”



Ashton seemed shaken. Jenny stood next to a pair of orchids looking like she had just been street-harassed.



I strolled into the store with a smile on my face. Ashton and Jenny looked cautiously hopeful, as if they expected me to assuage their emotions in the wake of the man’s cursing. I said in a tone that was both sharp and gentle, “The cotton is not such a good idea in this neighborhood. You’re right next door to a Black barbershop. Might want to bring the bucket inside and put it in the back. Out of sight.” Ashton swiftly did so.



After my recent Brooks Brothers incident, I wondered which other stores might include raw-cotton displays in their décor. The list that came up included Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Cracker Barrel, and Jo Ann Fabrics. When called to ask about this practice, only Hobby Lobby and Michael’s responded, both saying that they sell cotton stalks in their stores. The public-relations reps did not have definitive answers about the use of cotton in displays or décor.



It’s about much more than the cotton, which after all, is a pretty rare sight in most high-end stories. It’s about the assumptions, the attitudes, and the microaggressions that hang like a cloud over all Black shoppers, especially in businesses that seem incompatible with our demographics. The sheer energy of being watched, followed, spoken down to and taken for a faceless employee for no reason other than our Blackness, means we must brace ourselves for whatever indignities a simple shopping trip might bring our way.



It’s exhausting. We just want to move through the world like everyone else. We go to work and maintain our homes, shop for groceries and maybe indulge in a bit of retail therapy as a respite in tough times. We don’t want to be eyeballed, followed, mistaken for “the help,” or assumed to be thugs or thieves. And we damn sure don’t want a raw symbol of all the reasons we’re still suffering and struggling today to be decorating a space in which we are prepared to spend our hard-earned money.

[Deleted]

I drive past a huge old cotton field on my way to the kids' school and pete's boy scout troop. I feel some kind of way about that.

[eponinepontmercy]

I feel sorry for the lady in Brooks Brothers who had no idea what she was talking about.

[NitaX]

I know some black folks who got married at the local Cotton Museum. My pastor was like "WHAT DAYUM BLACK PEOPLE GET MARRIED HERE?" (My pastor is 40-41). Then he shook his head like "this some effed up shit right here."

But yeah - if you come up to me talmbout do I want some decorative cotton pieces in my house Imma be like this ...

[NitaX]

Dec 10, 2014 12:53:32 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

There was a bag raved about on Style and Beauty and the company name was Whipping Post. I think only bimbi284 and I were the only ones that even caught how inappropriate that was.

See, the more I see this, the more I truly believe we need to start the "Don't You Do It" company.

[cville]

Dec 10, 2014 12:40:58 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

I feel sorry for the lady in Brooks Brothers who had no idea what she was talking about.

I don't.  She clearly reacted in a way that indicates that she heard the writer, felt the impact, and responded accordingly.  Sure, she was uncomfortable for a second, but sometimes learning things is uncomfortable, the writer was polite, and Helen got a commission out of the deal.

I always feel weird about cotton fields.  A cotton field today looks exactly exactly like a cotton field in 1820, except without slaves in it.  Exactly.  It's immediately easy to picture what slaves in a cotton field would've looked like, in a way that it isn't easy to picture, say, when NYC wasn't paved and the streets were packed mud or cobblestones.

[saz]

I don't have anything to add on the cotton conversation but has anyone else had her experience of someone assuming you are a salesperson in the store? It happens to me all the time. It has happened in Target when I was not wearing a red shirt, and I don't even own khakis.

[NitaX]

Dec 10, 2014 13:21:28 GMT -5 saz said:

I don't have anything to add on the cotton conversation but has anyone else had her experience of someone assuming you are a salesperson in the store? It happens to me all the time. It has happened in Target when I was not wearing a red shirt, and I don't even own khakis.

Yes. It happens to me often. It's annoying. LOL Most people in stores have name tags - look for the name/store tags people. 

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2014 12:53:32 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

I don't know. In the Brooks Brother's situation, I think it likens itself to the Blake Lively Southern Belle marketing. It has ties to a troubling time.

Like she said, we sleep on it, wear it, etc. So, it's hard to escape. However when cotton in this country was produced and stored as it was in the retail display, it was picked by black folks, either slaves or sharecroppers. My vote is offensive and tasteless.

I think that commonality with a product such as cotton is what helped to inspire Kara Walker's sculpture Subtlety that was housed in Brooklyn this summer. She wanted to call attention to the sugar trade and its ties to slavery and the abuses associated with it. Sugar is in damn near everything, like cotton, and it has a sad horrific history.

There was a bag raved about on Style and Beauty and the company name was Whipping Post. I think only bimbi284 and I were the only ones that even caught how inappropriate that was.

WHIPPING POST???

[saz]

Dec 10, 2014 13:23:03 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:21:28 GMT -5 saz said:

I don't have anything to add on the cotton conversation but has anyone else had her experience of someone assuming you are a salesperson in the store? It happens to me all the time. It has happened in Target when I was not wearing a red shirt, and I don't even own khakis.

Yes. It happens to me often. It's annoying. LOL Most people in stores have name tags - look for the name/store tags people. 

Right?? It's not that hard to check for a name tag!

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2014 13:19:58 GMT -5 cville said:

Dec 10, 2014 12:40:58 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

I feel sorry for the lady in Brooks Brothers who had no idea what she was talking about.

I don't.  She clearly reacted in a way that indicates that she heard the writer, felt the impact, and responded accordingly.  Sure, she was uncomfortable for a second, but sometimes learning things is uncomfortable, the writer was polite, and Helen got a commission out of the deal.

I always feel weird about cotton fields.  A cotton field today looks exactly exactly like a cotton field in 1820, except without slaves in it.  Exactly.  It's immediately easy to picture what slaves in a cotton field would've looked like, in a way that it isn't easy to picture, say, when NYC wasn't paved and the streets were packed mud or cobblestones.

Yup and that's how I feel when I drive through my town and there's all that fucking cotton.

[eponinepontmercy]

Dec 10, 2014 13:25:19 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:02:16 GMT -5 NitaX said:

See, the more I see this, the more I truly believe we need to start the "Don't You Do It" company.

No you weren't and the fact that it was made out of leather and the whipped stitching.  

[NitaX]

Dec 10, 2014 13:37:59 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:33:04 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

I don't know how I feel about this. There are a ton of things that slaves were forced to harvest. Do we stop using them all? I'm not trying to be a bitch at all and need some real feedback here.

bimbi was the first to mention it, and I quoted her after. I didn't see any other responses to it being offensive. It there were, it was missed.

Decorating with it as marketing is the offensive part. Not wearing cotton. If Brooks Brothers wanted to get all nostalgic on people by bringing up the old harvest look of cotton, it's hard to separate that from black oppression. So, it's offensive.

Agreed. The South is mainly equated with its production of cotton fields. That's the main image that comes to mind. Tobacco and Sugar Cane are other exports, but sugar cane was a Caribbean crop. Cotton is one of the hallmarks of American slavery. 

[cattledogkisses]

Dec 10, 2014 13:30:46 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

people decorate with cotton?

do they decorate with tobacco too?

i mean, i sure as shit dont decorate with corn stalks (minus the requisite indian corn at thanksgiving)

People in New England decorate with corn stalks everywhere in the fall. I swear there's a bunch of them on every mailbox in September-October. 

[tictac]

Dec 10, 2014 13:21:28 GMT -5 saz said:

I don't have anything to add on the cotton conversation but has anyone else had her experience of someone assuming you are a salesperson in the store? It happens to me all the time. It has happened in Target when I was not wearing a red shirt, and I don't even own khakis.

I'm white and I get accused of working places that I don't all the time, and I usually am not dressed like the employees when it happens.

The "best" was at this casino in Atlantic City, some woman actually chased me down demanding to know where her drinks were. The cocktail waitresses there all wear these short, sparkly blue dresses, I was in jeans and a black shirt. I told her I didn't work there, and she was like "But my friend said the waitress just walked by AND YOU JUST WALKED BY!"

"Still don't work here, Ma'am"

"WHERE IS YOUR SUPERVISOR?!?!"

She actually followed me around demanding her drinks/my name/my manager for another 2 minutes while I lead her straight to the help desk and let them deal with her. Even after they told her to leave me alone, no, I really didn't work there, she still wanted my name and to report me to someone, somewhere for...reasons.

[NitaX]

Dec 10, 2014 13:47:23 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:44:11 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Agreed. The South is mainly equated with its production of cotton fields. That's the main image that comes to mind. Tobacco and Sugar Cane are other exports, but sugar cane was a Caribbean crop. Cotton is one of the hallmarks of American slavery. 

Along with rice.  Especially in NC and SC.  Then rice production moved.  www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/research_stations/Rice/Features/Publications/The+History+of+US+Rice+Production++Part+1.htm

Rice production is pretty big across the river in Arkansas. I'm just saying that you can't think American Slavery without the very first image being - Cotton. 

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2014 13:37:59 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:33:04 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

I don't know how I feel about this. There are a ton of things that slaves were forced to harvest. Do we stop using them all? I'm not trying to be a bitch at all and need some real feedback here.

bimbi was the first to mention it, and I quoted her after. I didn't see any other responses to it being offensive. If there were, it was missed.

Decorating with it as marketing is the offensive part. Not wearing cotton. If Brooks Brothers wanted to get all nostalgic on people by bringing up the old harvest look of cotton, it's hard to separate that from black oppression. So, it's offensive.

ETA: Not to mention, as the author alluded to, not many black people shop there. I'm sure there demographic is probably 80-90% white. So that makes it even worse. Like you're expecting your shoppers to be okay in the old-timey goodness of barrels of raw cotton. I wonder if they speckled that shit with blood to make it really authentic. It's about as bad as Paula Deen wanting an all black service crew for one of her Southern dinner parties. 

No one is saying, don't hire black folks to work in catering. We're saying don't make it a nod to slavery and Antebellum South.

My friend had a similar issue when we went to brunch in NOLA a few weeks back. Almost all of the diners in the veranda style setting were white and all of the servers were black. It felt awkward and tense for our table.

Dumb question, but is cotton not grown in fields now? Are cotton fields an "old timey" thing or something that still exists and contribute to the production of the clothing items sold there? I'm sorry, I'm from the midwest and we don't grow cotton here so I really honestly have no clue. I assume it comes from somewhere, but I guess I've never thought about it. 

I think this is another reason why it's important to have diversity in people working in marketing. I may just be an ignorant white person myself, but I had NO IDEA that this would have been offensive and may have thought that cotton plants near cotton clothing made sense and it never would have crossed my mind to connect that with slavery. I know next to nothing about Brooks Brothers (other than that it is very much NMS) but if it's mostly white people clothing, I am guessing nobody involved in decorating gave even a second of thought to the history of the plant they were using as decoration. But stores should be conscious of ensuring that people of all races/cultures/backgrounds are part of these decisions.

If I was Helen I would have been mortified, felt completely awful, and absolutely taken it down. So I think it was right for the author to say something and teach Helen (and me) that this is offensive. But I would not assume that Helen or her company did anything intentionally offensive. 

[Deleted]

Black folks don't care about cotton. We do care about cotton fields.

[cville]

Dec 10, 2014 13:52:00 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:47:23 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

Along with rice.  Especially in NC and SC.  Then rice production moved.  www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/research_stations/Rice/Features/Publications/The+History+of+US+Rice+Production++Part+1.htm

Rice production is pretty big across the river in Arkansas. I'm just saying that you can't think American Slavery without the very first image being - Cotton. 

What did they grow at Tara?   Cotton.

What was a Confederate slogan?  King Cotton.

What is Dixie in the song?  The land of cotton.


This is not a huge leap even for the whitest of Helens at Brooks Brothers to grasp.

[eponinepontmercy]

Dec 10, 2014 14:19:49 GMT -5 cville said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:52:00 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Rice production is pretty big across the river in Arkansas. I'm just saying that you can't think American Slavery without the very first image being - Cotton. 

What did they grow at Tara?   Cotton.

What was a Confederate slogan?  King Cotton.

What is Dixie in the song?  The land of cotton.


This is not a huge leap even for the whitest of Helens at Brooks Brothers to grasp.

See, now that it's all laid out and we're talking about it, it absolutely makes sense to me.  If I had seen a cotton plant in a store yesterday, I wouldn't have thought twice. 

[NitaX]

Dec 10, 2014 14:04:13 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:37:59 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

bimbi was the first to mention it, and I quoted her after. I didn't see any other responses to it being offensive. If there were, it was missed.

Decorating with it as marketing is the offensive part. Not wearing cotton. If Brooks Brothers wanted to get all nostalgic on people by bringing up the old harvest look of cotton, it's hard to separate that from black oppression. So, it's offensive.

ETA: Not to mention, as the author alluded to, not many black people shop there. I'm sure there demographic is probably 80-90% white. So that makes it even worse. Like you're expecting your shoppers to be okay in the old-timey goodness of barrels of raw cotton. I wonder if they speckled that shit with blood to make it really authentic. It's about as bad as Paula Deen wanting an all black service crew for one of her Southern dinner parties. 

No one is saying, don't hire black folks to work in catering. We're saying don't make it a nod to slavery and Antebellum South.

My friend had a similar issue when we went to brunch in NOLA a few weeks back. Almost all of the diners in the veranda style setting were white and all of the servers were black. It felt awkward and tense for our table.

Dumb question, but is cotton not grown in fields now? Are cotton fields an "old timey" thing or something that still exists and contribute to the production of the clothing items sold there? I'm sorry, I'm from the midwest and we don't grow cotton here so I really honestly have no clue. I assume it comes from somewhere, but I guess I've never thought about it. 

I think this is another reason why it's important to have diversity in people working in marketing. I may just be an ignorant white person myself, but I had NO IDEA that this would have been offensive and may have thought that cotton plants near cotton clothing made sense and it never would have crossed my mind to connect that with slavery. I know next to nothing about Brooks Brothers (other than that it is very much NMS) but if it's mostly white people clothing, I am guessing nobody involved in decorating gave even a second of thought to the history of the plant they were using as decoration. But stores should be conscious of ensuring that people of all races/cultures/backgrounds are part of these decisions.

If I was Helen I would have been mortified, felt completely awful, and absolutely taken it down. So I think it was right for the author to say something and teach Helen (and me) that this is offensive. But I would not assume that Helen or her company did anything intentionally offensive. 

Cotton fields still look the same. To illustrate a previous post - nothing much has changed from this:



And this except ain't no black folks or sharecroppers in the field.



And People - in Googling these images, I find tons of white folks taking family photos in cotton fields. Fix It Jesus.

[cville]

Dec 10, 2014 14:22:05 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

Dec 10, 2014 14:19:49 GMT -5 cville said:

What did they grow at Tara?   Cotton.

What was a Confederate slogan?  King Cotton.

What is Dixie in the song?  The land of cotton.


This is not a huge leap even for the whitest of Helens at Brooks Brothers to grasp.

See, now that it's all laid out and we're talking about it, it absolutely makes sense to me.  If I had seen a cotton plant in a store yesterday, I wouldn't have thought twice. 

And I'm the opposite for some reason.  I once overreacted to a floral display with pussywillow in it.  I was all "did they stick COTTON in that vase?  HOW DARE THEY."  The lady at the bank (when I pointed it out) was like "ma'am, I think that's pussywillow."  Oh.

In my defense, this is pussywillow:

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2014 14:24:01 GMT -5 @majorwife said:

Dec 10, 2014 14:04:13 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

Dumb question, but is cotton not grown in fields now? Are cotton fields an "old timey" thing or something that still exists and contribute to the production of the clothing items sold there? I'm sorry, I'm from the midwest and we don't grow cotton here so I really honestly have no clue. I assume it comes from somewhere, but I guess I've never thought about it. 

I think this is another reason why it's important to have diversity in people working in marketing. I may just be an ignorant white person myself, but I had NO IDEA that this would have been offensive and may have thought that cotton plants near cotton clothing made sense and it never would have crossed my mind to connect that with slavery. I know next to nothing about Brooks Brothers (other than that it is very much NMS) but if it's mostly white people clothing, I am guessing nobody involved in decorating gave even a second of thought to the history of the plant they were using as decoration. But stores should be conscious of ensuring that people of all races/cultures/backgrounds are part of these decisions.

If I was Helen I would have been mortified, felt completely awful, and absolutely taken it down. So I think it was right for the author to say something and teach Helen (and me) that this is offensive. But I would not assume that Helen or her company did anything intentionally offensive. 

lol

this is like asking if corn is still grown in fields

Ha ok. I mean that's what I thought! I just never would have thought that displaying the plant that the clothing comes from would be offensive, so I'm trying to understand why that's the modern day jump. I'm guessing some white idiot (like myself) didn't make the connection. 

I know corn is grown in fields, I drive past acres of them every day

[meshaliuknits]

Dec 10, 2014 13:44:56 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:42:03 GMT -5 mryrcn said:

Ah gotcha.  I don't think  I commented on the whipping post tote being offensive but good grief it was.  

Y'all do know that cotton is the fabric of our lives, right?  That's their marketing jingle.  

I actually wrote a poem about the jingle in college (first time around). I felt like it was too glossed over.

Do you still have it? I would love to read it.

[Deleted]

I think what irritates me most about the cotton fields I drive through is that it's in close proximity to our local living history museum. The woman who heads that place up sent out a lovely email detailing how this area wasn't a very bad one for slavery because there really weren't a whole lot of slaves or something.

Every time I drive past that field I think BULLFUCKING SHIT, LADY! It doesn't help that there are at least four regularly flying confederate flags in a two mile radius.

[summer]

I want nothing to do with cotton stalks.  I used to work retail. If I worked in a store and a manager asked me to set up a display using cotton stalks, it would cause problems.  I wouldn't be 100% sure I wasn't overreacting, but we would have problems all the same. 

[eponinepontmercy]

Dec 10, 2014 14:28:17 GMT -5 cville said:

Dec 10, 2014 14:22:05 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

See, now that it's all laid out and we're talking about it, it absolutely makes sense to me.  If I had seen a cotton plant in a store yesterday, I wouldn't have thought twice. 

And I'm the opposite for some reason.  I once overreacted to a floral display with pussywillow in it.  I was all "did they stick COTTON in that vase?  HOW DARE THEY."  The lady at the bank (when I pointed it out) was like "ma'am, I think that's pussywillow."  Oh.

In my defense, this is pussywillow:

(Please tell me someone else has seen Serial Mom.)

[mrsdewinter]

Dec 10, 2014 14:25:07 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Dec 10, 2014 14:04:13 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

Dumb question, but is cotton not grown in fields now? Are cotton fields an "old timey" thing or something that still exists and contribute to the production of the clothing items sold there? I'm sorry, I'm from the midwest and we don't grow cotton here so I really honestly have no clue. I assume it comes from somewhere, but I guess I've never thought about it. 

I think this is another reason why it's important to have diversity in people working in marketing. I may just be an ignorant white person myself, but I had NO IDEA that this would have been offensive and may have thought that cotton plants near cotton clothing made sense and it never would have crossed my mind to connect that with slavery. I know next to nothing about Brooks Brothers (other than that it is very much NMS) but if it's mostly white people clothing, I am guessing nobody involved in decorating gave even a second of thought to the history of the plant they were using as decoration. But stores should be conscious of ensuring that people of all races/cultures/backgrounds are part of these decisions.

If I was Helen I would have been mortified, felt completely awful, and absolutely taken it down. So I think it was right for the author to say something and teach Helen (and me) that this is offensive. But I would not assume that Helen or her company did anything intentionally offensive. 

Cotton fields still look the same. To illustrate a previous post - nothing much has changed from this:



And this except ain't no black folks or sharecroppers in the field.



And People - in Googling these images, I find tons of white folks taking family photos in cotton fields. Fix It Jesus.

That makes me think of people having their wedding pictures at antebellum plantations. I know they are aesthetically pleasing, but really? Can't you find somewhere else with old trees and pretty buildings?

[epphd]

Dec 10, 2014 13:26:11 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Dec 10, 2014 12:53:32 GMT -5 @smorriso said:

I don't know. In the Brooks Brother's situation, I think it likens itself to the Blake Lively Southern Belle marketing. It has ties to a troubling time.

Like she said, we sleep on it, wear it, etc. So, it's hard to escape. However when cotton in this country was produced and stored as it was in the retail display, it was picked by black folks, either slaves or sharecroppers. My vote is offensive and tasteless.

I think that commonality with a product such as cotton is what helped to inspire Kara Walker's sculpture Subtlety that was housed in Brooklyn this summer. She wanted to call attention to the sugar trade and its ties to slavery and the abuses associated with it. Sugar is in damn near everything, like cotton, and it has a sad horrific history.

There was a bag raved about on Style and Beauty and the company name was Whipping Post. I think only bimbi284 and I were the only ones that even caught how inappropriate that was.

WHIPPING POST???

ok, I had to look this up and it seems.... even worse.

here is the home page.
www.whippingpost.com/

And here is a product.


It's called a Georgia Brown Picker's Wallet.


I know - I know. They MEAN to refer to guitar picks and the color of the product.

[redwino]

I don't know if I would have been offended by the brooks brothers display. I'm having a hard time picturing what the display would look like and I now realize I've never seen raw cotton in real life. So I'm not saying that the display isn't offensive, I'm just not sure how I would react to it. This thread has actually stirred up some feelings I didn't know I had.

On the point of people getting married on plantations and taking pictures in cotton fields, I definitely feel some type a way. I just don't understand how people can give no thought to that type of thing. I have friends who live in a brand new neighborhood called Blah Blah Plantation. The first time I came to their house I mentioned the name and they said they hadn't thought about it. I'm sure they hadn't but it blows my mind that you don't hear the word plantation and not think, nah I'll keep looking.