In my opinion, our recent history in America is still too recent. The idea of "using" an African-American to clean up just isn't an acceptable image. We haven't made enough progress yet as a culture. There are still too many people who see a person's color before they see a person. And there are still too many who would see objects like this as validation for their prejudices.
When America has had enough African-American Presidents that his or her race isn't something anybody thinks or talks about, maybe it will be OK to have stuff like this around. We'll get there one day, but in my opinion we just aren't there yet.
Darryl Hughes - 12 years ago
At first it seemed racist, but when they have other races as sponges then it wasn't just targeting a race but a generation, the 70's. They made the black people decent looking they didn't have big over exaggerated features. I didn't find them interesting as a product, but I can see if someone would like to have it as a conversation piece at their party.
In my opinion, our recent history in America is still too recent. The idea of "using" an African-American to clean up just isn't an acceptable image. We haven't made enough progress yet as a culture. There are still too many people who see a person's color before they see a person. And there are still too many who would see objects like this as validation for their prejudices.
When America has had enough African-American Presidents that his or her race isn't something anybody thinks or talks about, maybe it will be OK to have stuff like this around. We'll get there one day, but in my opinion we just aren't there yet.
At first it seemed racist, but when they have other races as sponges then it wasn't just targeting a race but a generation, the 70's. They made the black people decent looking they didn't have big over exaggerated features. I didn't find them interesting as a product, but I can see if someone would like to have it as a conversation piece at their party.