Old Navy is a mid-range clothing store in America, and they recently attracted a lot of attention online because of the responses to a tweet they posted earlier in the week.
The tweet was promoting a special discount event, and depicted an attractive mixed race family. The picture was well lit, nicely composed, and the models looked like they were having a great time.
Oh, happy day! Our #ThankYouEvent is finally here. Take 30% off your entire purchase: https://t.co/nGQ9Pji1pN pic.twitter.com/vq4mIczm6A
— Old Navy (@OldNavy) April 29, 2016
This innocuous tweet did not sit that well with some people, though – namely those that still believe in the supremacy of white people in America and around the globe.
There were many vitriolic replies to the tweet, saying that it promoted ‘miscegenation’, aka the creation of mixed-race families.
My family and I will never step into an @OldNavy store again. This miscegenation junk is rammed down our throats from every direction.
— Cultural Combat (@CulturalCombat) April 29, 2016
@OldNavy What are you trying to tell us? That the black father was absent so a white man had to step in and play daddy? Pathetic, I’m sick
— Andrew (@amillerionaire) May 1, 2016
@OldNavy race-mixing propaganda
— Mandrake (@vicmandrake) April 29, 2016
This type of vocabulary is rife in the still-thriving community of white supremacists that exist in the United States and indeed worldwide.
Individuals maintained that they and their families would be boycotting the store.
Some people even made the ludicrous statement that this advertisement was contributing to what they call a “white genocide”.
.@ALeftistRedHead @LadyAodh @Meaghan_Edwards @marylovefreedom @OldNavy #WhiteGenocide pic.twitter.com/5r8gzBOYaN
— Justice4Europe (@Justice4Europe) May 2, 2016
.@OldNavy Interracial relationships are a fraction of US marriages. Who is the target demo? @marylovefreedom pic.twitter.com/8L1MFhSbWk
— Otto (@SJW_Syndrome) April 29, 2016
However, some people used the conversation to celebrate the diversity in their own families:
Hey @OldNavy, my family and I thank you for the diversity in this ad! #LoveWins, no matter the color ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TjgYUPMGu4
— KHARY PENEBAKER (@kharyp) May 1, 2016
@StacyLeMelle @merstew @kharyp @OldNavy my daughters and I salute Old Navy! pic.twitter.com/b7FPfCfS1k
— Leftfielder™ (@DaleMoss2) May 2, 2016
This type of reaction to media portrayals of mixed race families is sadly nothing new.
Below is an advertisement for Cheerios featuring a mixed-race family that got the same reaction back in 2014.
