Michigan State University removes gift shop display depicting black leaders hanging from tree

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

A gift shop in a performing arts center at Michigan State University has apologized and removed a display of dolls depicting black leaders hanging from a rack that looked like a tree.

“Regardless of the intent of the display, its impact cannot be ignored — people were hurt and offended,” university spokesperson Emily Gerkin Guerrant said in a statement last week about the display that had been up at The Wharton Center for Performing Arts.

“We sincerely apologize to our community members and have immediately removed the display,” she continued. The Wharton Center agreed “to provide employees and volunteers with racial bias training that focuses on the impact and understanding of intentional and unintentional racial bias.”

The figures, made out of felt, including former President Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, musician Prince, and others.

Read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/481342-michigan-state-university-removes-gift-shop-display-depicting

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[Sophia_Of_PlanetX]

1. Omg! What were they thinking?

[MissMillie]

9. My first thought was

"someone wasn't thinking!"

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

16. They probably thought the items were celebrating Black History Month.

They probably didn't notice the similarity to "strange fruit"

[Skittles]

33. what if they did

[lapfog_1]

2. "Regardless of the intent of the display"

no... pretty sure you meant to say "BECAUSE of the intent" or "SOME RACIST ASSHOLE's intent"

[flying_wahini]

3. Whoever did that should be fired.

[Sherman A1]

6. Absolutely

And escorted off campus immediately.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Wonder where the "tree" originated

Merchandising displays often originate with the manufacturer.

What were the coffee mugs for? Never doubt stupidity, but this is either racist intent or stone cold tone deaf!

[riversedge]

5. She asked shop workers if they saw anything wrong with the displays, but they didn't, Davis-Dunn sa

This is the worst part of it!! employees----most likely students themselves---saw nothing wrong with the display.




Michigan college gift shop removes doll display depicting black leaders hanging from tree




Mark Johnson Lansing State Journal
Michigan State University removed an ornament display of African-American leaders hanging from a tree at the Wharton Center gift shop, shown on Jan. 30.

EAST LANSING, Mich. —.......................................................

Krystal Rose Davis-Dunn, a 31-year-old black graduate student at MSU, took in a jazz concert with a friend who wanted to check out the gift shop after the show. The dolls hanging from the tree was one of the first images she noticed when they walked in.

They kept walking around and she spotted four or five similar trees and a larger Christmas tree with "a lot more" black leaders. There were a few white leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln and Beethoven, but the trees were mostly covered with ornaments black historical figures, Davis-Dunn said.

She asked shop workers if they saw anything wrong with the displays, but they didn't, Davis-Dunn said.

"It's African-American people hanging from twine," Davis-Dunn said. "That is problematic. You're lynching black people from trees."

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. WTGDF!!!

I just don't get it. It belies comprehension.

[Faux pas]

8. ...

[mahina]

10. Why are the strings so long if it was innocently done?

That was no mistake.

The dolls are great though.

[CatMor]

11. That display made me shudder immediately ...

don't know how anyone could have thought it was appropriate.

[left-of-center2012]

12. Well, Michigan voted for Trump on 2016

Last edited Tue Feb 4, 2020, 12:22 PM - Edit history (1)

[Stainless]

13. Yup, Urine Michigan!

This is the most disgusting thing I've seen since leaving there fifty years ago!

[Initech]

15. Hmm, the Secret Service might want to pay the people who made this a visit.

[Wuddles440]

17. WTF!!!!

I'm sure that Dear Leader will find a prominent spot for it in the Oval Office.

[Crowman2009]

18. Geez MSU is becoming a loathsome as Penn St. at this point.

I guess that's what happens when you turn your university into a sports business as opposed to an institute for learning. Usually one would expect this from those right-wing assholes from Hillsdale College.

[olddad65]

19. Its Michigan, what do you expect.

[jayfish]

22. "I doubt racial intent"

Same here. I have to wonder how much money we would want MSU to spend to procure micro-aggression free product displays. this shit is stupid.

[LisaM]

28. East Lansing is a liberal place and this is at the Arts Center.

I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt that it was not intentional, but, wasn't there a manager or someone to take a look at this (because it looks terrible).

The people working at the gift store might have been foreign, as well. MSU has a ton of foreign students, to whom the implications might not be so immediately evident.

The Wharton Center has shown shows like Hamilton and the jazz event they were doing the other night. It's named in honor of an African-American who was once president of the University: https://www.whartoncenter.com/our-story/our-namesake

Insanely tone-deaf, but I (also a Wolverine) don't think it was intentional.

[RobinA]

32. I Doubt It

as well. As a former retailer, How do you display these dolls? I agree it shouldn’t have been this way, because sure as the sun rises someone is going to come by and yell racism and I can agree this is probably not a sound idea and probably downright creepy to some folks. Understandably. But purposely racist? No.

[Greybnk48]

20. It's a University, no one's that fucking stupid. No one.

They should have their asses sued off. That filth was intentional.

[certainot]

23. michigan state is so fucking stupid it broadcasts sports on/endorses 11 limbaugh stations

(ex limbaugh stations?)

all michael moore has to do to ruin trumps and the gops chances in michigan is walk onto theat campus and ask admin WTF?

then there's u of mich supporting 7 limbaugh stations

if moore started that discussion advertisers would head for the hills and without those radio stations mich GOP is done.

[LisaM]

26. I don't think that's intentional. That's how radio works.

The stations have long-term contracts with the sports team, and then the station format changes, but the sports are still broadcast.

The station that did Air America in Washington state did WSU basketball games. The station was something else before Air America, and it's something else now, but it still does the WSU games.

[certainot]

27. you're right, most of the other 86 universities that support 260 limbaugh stations

were on those stations before they were converted to limbaugh stations

at that time those communities/students/faculty should have asked "do we really want to associate the school brand and mascot with KKK programming?"

there is no excuse for them not to ask that now. long time limbaugh megastation KOA in denver demoted limbaugh to a smaller station and it may have been the result of activism around the university of ccolorado

[LisaM]

29. I don't think the schools "support" those stations.

The stations probably pay the university to broadcast the games.

[certainot]

31. they rent the uni logos/brand/community standing so they can use it to attract advertisers

the universities are basically selling out to the KKK - it's still support

the station wouldn't pay for it if it didn't get something, support/endorsement in return

the station can paste the uni logo on its website, so it's an endorsement

TV rights are worth a lot more and actually there's usually a licensing company as middleman so the school gets even less. for the uni of NM the licensing co actually pays the station and the radio station runs unm recruiting ads during the limbaugh show!

all those sschools need to start looking for apolitical altss

[The Mouth]

25. WTF?

[Vinca]

30. WTF? Not the sharpest bunch of tacks running the gift shop I guess.