RACISM: are you against it?

[mikaztro]

TRUE STORY ON A BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT

Scene took place on a BA flight between Johannesburg and London. A White woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black man. Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess.

"Madam, what Is the matter," the hostess asked.
"You obviously do not see it then?" She responded.
"You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat."

"Be calm please," the hostess replied.
"Almost all the places on this flight are taken. I will go to see if another place is available."

The Hostess went away and then came back a few minutes later.
"Madam, Just as I thought, there are no other available seats in the economy class. I spoke to the captain and he informed me that there is also a seat in the business class. All the same, we still have one place in the first class."

Before the woman could say anything, the hostess continued:
"It is not usual for our company to permit someone from the economy class to sit in the first class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would be scandalous to make anyone sit next to someone so disgusting."

the Hostess turned to the black guy, and said,
"Therefore, Sir, if you would like to please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in first class."
At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had just witnessed stood up and applauded. This is a true story

If you are against racism, please send this message
to all your friends.

[Altis6453]

Yup. Very much against racism. In fact, that was one of the reasons why the US Civil War broke out. And then again, why JFK had to call out the National Guard to enforce the rights of black americans to go to the same schools as white americans. Kung baga, tinanggal nya yung "segregation".

[luckytruck]

akala ko urban legend lang yung kay tommy hilfiger?

research ko nga sa internet

andy

[kuyapete]

No one should ever tolerate racism in any way form or manner. Regarding the Oprah incident, I've read in the Inquirer a few months back when a local showbiz media person personally interviewed Mr. Hillfiger, the first question he asked was that Oprah incident, to which Mr. Hillfiger himself said it is not true. To paraphrase what he said, "no incident has ever happened and I did not say such things. in fact, majority of my customers are of asian descent (japanese, koreans), so why should I say it is for white people only? Case closed.

[mazdamazda]

[size=4]the tommy hilfiger incident is a hoax[/size]

[mikaztro]

I hope it is not true. Many Filipinos love Hilfiger products.

[mikaztro]

Claim: Designer Tommy Hilfiger shocked the world when he appeared on a television talk show and said, "If I knew that blacks and Asians were going to wear my clothes, I would have never designed them."

Status: False.

Origins: Rumors
that Tommy Hilfiger made a racist remark exploded onto the Internet in the fall of 1996 after a news article purporting to be from a Philippines tabloid began making the online rounds. These self-same rumors had been in circulation at least nine months earlier, but the appearance of this article brought them to critical mass.

According to Cristina Peczon (author of the article), the revealing remark happened on CNN Style with Elsa Klensch, during an interview with both Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren on the latest fashion trends:

Hilfiger then supposedly butted in then with a comment, something like it is one thing for one's label to go popular worldwide, but there are some people who just don't look well in "their" designer clothes. Hilfiger then allegedly named several Asian races, apparently saying that he preferred if "these people" wouldn't wear their line — particularly Filipinos!

Though many were up in arms about this article (there were calls for a boycott of Hilfiger products), no one was ever quite sure what the designer had said, who he'd said it to, or even which ethnic group he'd slammed. One version had him saying, "If I knew that blacks and Asians were going to wear my clothes, I would have never designed them." More colorful renditions had him making his shocking revelation on national TV and Oprah Winfrey then throwing him off her show. (Oddly enough, the same story has been told about Liz Claiborne since 1991, that Oprah threw her off the show after Liz claimed she didn't design for Black women as "their hips are too big." That didn't happen either. See our Liz Biz page for more about that rumor, and the one that she gives part of the company's profits to the Church of Satan.)

A 1997 newspaper article debunking this tale noted:

In one cybermyth, Hilfiger supposedly told style reporter Elsa Klensch of CNN that he didn't think Asians looked good in his clothes. Then, as the story morphed, he told Winfrey the same thing about Blacks, at which point she threw him off the set.

Yet representatives of both shows deny Hilfiger ever appeared as a guest.

A 1999 article also carried denials from officials of the shows on which the incident is rumored to have taken place:

"Tommy Hilfiger has never appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show," said Audrey Pass, a spokeswoman for Winfrey. "Hilfiger's never appeared on CNN Style with Elsa Klensch," said Kathy Park of CNN.

Oprah herself did what she could to quell this slander. On Monday, 11 January 1999, she opened her show by adamantly denouncing the rumor, emphatically stating the following:

So I want to just set the record straight once and for all. The rumor claims that clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger came on this show and made racist remarks, and that I then kicked him out. I just want to say that is not true because it just never happened. Tommy Hilfiger has never appeared on this show. READ MY LIPS, TOMMY HILFIGER HAS NEVER APPEARED ON THIS SHOW. And all of [the] people who claim that they saw it, they heard it — it never happened. I've never even met Tommy Hilfiger.

Both Hilfiger and his company have steadfastly denied all forms of the rumor, and it has taken many. Depending on who you hear the whisper from, he slammed Asians, Filipinos or Blacks, on Oprah or Ricki Lake or BET News or Larry King Live or CNN — as a rumor, it's a marvel of non-specificity. According to a company statement posted to the Internet in March 1997:

Tommy Hilfiger did not make the alleged inappropriate racial comments. [. . .] Hilfiger wants his clothing to be enjoyed by people of all backgrounds and his collections are put together with the broadest cross-section of individuals in mind. To reinforce this, he features models of all ethnic backgrounds in his fashion shows and advertisements.

The company has answered the charges leveled against Hilfiger in its corporate FAQ, which very clearly states that not only didn't he say what's been ascribed to him, he's also never been on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, or CNN's Style with Elsa Klensch.

Cyberdenials or not, the rumor has legs. Earlier I mentioned it had been around at least nine months prior to its Internet explosion in late 1996. A March 1995 newspaper article noted:

Then there's the infamous disparaging "statement" the Parsons brothers and several others said they had heard that Hilfiger made about Blacks, particularly poor Blacks, wearing his clothes.

As with all rumors, there are several variations, and no one can say where or when Hilfiger made the comments. One woman said a friend heard him say it on BET News. A clerk at Burdines said he heard it was on the Ricki Lake show.

Hilfiger's being cast as a racist villain is especially unfortunate because his history as a designer shows him to be anything but. Adding color and movement to everyday clothes, his designs shot into popularity fueled by enthusiastic support from the Black community which adopted his fashion statements as its own. When Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a red, white, and blue Hilfiger rugby shirt on Saturday Night Live in March 1994, the word went out: Tommygear was cool. That was the same year the National Conference of Christians and Jews bestowed its National Humanitarian Award on the young designer. In 1995 Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and from there he's gone nowhere but up.

As immediately satisfying as it is to believe the old Liz Claiborne tale has updated itself by attaching to a newer, fresher designer, there's another likely explanation that must also be considered. As Hilfiger's clothing became more and more popular, it increasingly became a target for the Pacific Basin knock-off specialists. Hilfiger's statements that people should foreswear Asian or Filipino bootlegs of his clothes because cheap copies don't look good on anybody could easily have been misheard or misunderstood so that they were later remembered as statements to the effect that Asians or Filipinos themselves should not wear Hilfiger designs as they would make his clothes look bad.

[mikaztro]

Oprah herself did what she could to quell this slander. On Monday, 11 January 1999, she opened her show by adamantly denouncing the rumor, emphatically stating the following:
So I want to just set the record straight once and for all. The rumor claims that clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger came on this show and made racist remarks, and that I then kicked him out. I just want to say that is not true because it just never happened. Tommy Hilfiger has never appeared on this show. READ MY LIPS, TOMMY HILFIGER HAS NEVER APPEARED ON THIS SHOW. And all of [the] people who claim that they saw it, they heard it — it never happened. I've never even met Tommy Hilfiger.

[stinkaboy]

[size=4]the tommy hilfiger incident is a hoax[/size]

matagal na kumakalat sa email to and yes its a hoax.

[Karding]

This thread is WORTH deleting.

;)

Mika, if you know this isnt true, whats the point of posting it?!

This and the DJ's HOAX is really worth deleting.