Thanks to H&M, it looks like we?re caught in yet another rinse-and-repeat cycle of racist brand blunders. Over the weekend, social media was on fire when an image from an H&M UK campaign showed a young Black boy wearing a sweatshirt that read ?Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.?

woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i?m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore… pic.twitter.com/P3023iYzAb
? The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018

Criticism of the racist imagery was swift as were calls for H&M boycotts, including a tweet from The Weeknd stating that he was ending his partnership with the retailer. The international clothing retailer responded by pulling the sweatshirt from their stores and sites and issuing a lukewarm apology?but H&M isn?t fooling me. Ad campaigns based in willful ignorance are the laziest form of marketing strategy, and as a Black woman, a mom and a part-time model myself, I?m not buying what they?re selling.
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This offensive monkey sweatshirt has one retailer in very hot water In the history of anti-Black racism, monkeys (and other primates) have played a prominent role. From grotesque depictions of Black people as apes, to bananas being thrown at everyone from Black athlete...