Online backlash prompted Forever 21 to pull a listing from its website that featured a white model wearing a “Wakanda Forever” sweater, a reference to the fictional African nation from the movie Black Panther. But maybe this—I don’t know, I’m spitballing here—isn’t actually a huge deal at all.
Forever 21’s decision to put a blue eyed, blond haired white man in a Black Panther sweater is an example of short sightedness at worst, kind of funny at best. Of all the Forever 21 models they could have chosen to wear merchandise from a film that was regarded as—for lack of a better phrase—a very black moment, they decided to go with this guy. Not even a racially ambiguous model! Not even a spicy white! This guy!
It’s kind of funny. It’s a thing you roll your eyes at. It’s a thing that’s a little goofy on the optics front, but is ultimately harmless, because at the end of the day it’s a person wearing a sweater inspired by an immensely successful superhero franchise.
Here’s what it’s not: Offensive.
But to take offense to this is natural for those who insist on treating Black Panther like it’s a part of the Civil Rights Movement instead of a Marvel movie.
Make no mistake: This is not to reduce the inspiring vision of Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, or how refreshing it was to see a majority black cast in a superhero movie, or the significance of the film exposing a mainstream audience to concepts of colonization and black power, or how mind-numbingly hot M’Baku was.
But I’d suggest that anyone who is taking true offense at this sweater drama is projecting their identity and politics onto the Black Panther franchise a little too strongly. This is almost as absurd as the debate over whether a white child can wear a Black Panther Halloween costume. Can we please keep this brand of performative nonsense in 2018?
