Following a wave of opposition that H&M received after the company published a black boy in a “coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie, the retail conglomerate has yet to win back the public’s support. One protest even took it a step further and reportedly mannequin displays and clothing racks in a store based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
According to the Daily Mail, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) held a protest on Saturday (Jan. 13) outside an H&M store in Menlyn Park. The peaceful demonstration then took a turn when a few unnamed protestors ransacked various areas of the outlet.
In a statement published on Jacarandafm, EFF member Donald Mabunda spoke on the group’s purpose that day. “We are here to just remind them that the monkeys own this place,” Mabunda said. “We are here to inform them, if you want to undermine the black people in this country, these are the results.”
While H&M issued an apology earlier this week, citing, “We understand that many people are upset about the image of the children’s hoodie. We, who work at H&M, can only agree,” the boy’s mother reportedly thinks otherwise.
“Stop crying wolf all the time, unnecessary issue here… get over it,” Terry Mango reportedly wrote on her social media account. “If I bought that jumper and put it on him and posted it on my pages, would that make me racist? I get pples opinion, but they are not mine.”
Here is what the H&M shop in menlyn mall looks like. EFF member in Tshwane have given the shop 24 hours to close its doors permanently, they say failure to do so, will mean protests will continue outside of the store indefinitely. @TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/DZpwfowbeV
— Alex Mitchley (@AlexMitchley) January 13, 2018
EFF targets @hm over racist advert. https://t.co/i7z2ss5QfK #H&M pic.twitter.com/aP6pdvY0QA
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) January 13, 2018
[JUST IN] Protests at H&M Sandton City by EFF members. Video from eNCA’s @YashPaddy pic.twitter.com/qRy63ilRNj
— eNCA (@eNCA) January 13, 2018
H&M mall of the South @EFFSouthAfrica store not operating currently plippin racists pic.twitter.com/Ldg9WJNbMl
— Ntobeng Ntobeng (@ntobengndo) January 13, 2018