NAACP is running out of things to do

[JesusVsThePolice]

CULVER CITY, Calif. (KABC) -- A graduation card sold at local stores has been pulled from shelves after a civil rights group raised concerns about the content. The group claims the card's micro-speaker plays a greeting that's racist.

It is a graduation greeting from Hallmark that says, "Hey world, we are officially putting you on notice."

Members of the Los Angeles NAACP did take notice. As characters known as "Hoops" and "Yoyo" banter on, African American leaders hear offensive language.

"And you black holes, you are so ominous. Watch your back," the card vocalizes.

"That was very demeaning to African American women. When it made reference to African American women as whores and at the end, it says 'watch your back,'" said Leon Jenkins of the Los Angeles NAACP.

When Hallmark was reached by phone, they said the card is all a misunderstanding. The card's theme is the solar system and emphasizes the power of the grad to take over the universe, even energy-absorbing black holes.

The card company says the card speaks about the power the grad will wield.

"The intent here is to say that this graduate is not afraid of anything," explained Hallmark spokesman Steve Doyal.

But that's not what some people heard.

"You hear the 'r' in there. 'Whores,' not, 'holes.' The 'r' is in there," said Minnie Hatley of the Los Angeles NAACP.

Hallmark sent Eyewitness News a transcript of what the card says, but Hatley says that the actual audio raises questions.

"It sounds like a group of children laughing and joking about blackness, again," said another NAACP member.

Hallmark is now notifying all of its stores to pull the card. Walgreens and CVS are doing the same.

"In any situation where there is a circumstance that we need to be sensitive to, we try to learn from that experience," said Doyal.

However, NAACP members say they do not want to see the card on store shelves ever again.

Seriously, how can we all live in a world together when people got nothing better to do than this?

Discuss.

 

[Sepalcure]

They were overreacting, the end. Period. It clearly said "black holes" but apparently they love to jump the gun and assume that anything with the word "black" in it is evil now. I mean I'm a black girl and I didn't get offended by that card at all, if anything I found it to be humorous. If they can't see that the card company's intention was to produce and ultimately sell a bunch of cards promoting something purely scientific, then they need to get their hearing checked. I'm all for black pride but when the NAACP goes around spewing out crap like this and getting all insensitive--then they make me realize why a good deal of us hold ourselves back as a fundamentally progressive race, shit like this. Slavery happened. Yes racism still exists. It'll probably never go away as long as you have someone of a different color than you. Hell stereotyping and just generalizations of any sort of person: black, white, purple, gay, straight, lesbian, pansexual, you name it--that's going to be around. This is just ignorance, plain and simple. And it's a damn shame because honestly, THIS is what irks me, when some black people always have to pull the damn race card and blow everything out of proportion.

"There's definitely an 'r' in there!"

Since when did the word 'holes' ever have an 'r' in it? Is there something we're missing here? Where's the freaking 'w' in that word too while you're at it? I just want to know where they got the racist context from. They really need to be more proud that African-Americans and Jamaican-Americans as well as other islanders are freaking graduating and continuing unto higher education instead of focusing on what's being vocalized and not vocalized through a damn card. My god . . .

 

[Channizard]

What a load of crap. The card's been out for three years and they decide to make a fuss over it now? They must be getting bored if they just decide to pick on a card for no apparent reason.

Besides, if it were meant to be offensive.. wouldn't it have offensive material on it and not talk about planets and randomly insert the word whore? Which I didn't hear by the way...

 

[JesusVsThePolice]

There's a shit load of other things going on in the world that they could be doing to help out, but their prime target is a fuckin' card. Hallmark shouldn't have backed down and should have left the card out for sale. I don't even know how one could assume that Hallmark would be behind something like this, they're a fuckin' card and gift company. Seems to me like the NAACP needs a few classes on astronomy.

But people will be people.

 

[Sum1sgruj]

The whole thing is really, really fuckin stupid. I'm sure Hallmark risked their entire enterprise by making a 'racist card'. If I was black, I'd be embarrassed by the NAACP. It's just a political move to continue some idea that all white people are racist.
Bitching about a stupid Hallmark card just shows that they're the ones that are racist. They got shit to say about anything: black-light, oh thats racist. blackboard, oh thats racist. tack, that rhymes with black, thats racist.