In 2014, the Red Cross released a pool safety poster that sparked a lot of controversy. We had a few of our co-workers take a look at the poster to see what they thought:
View this video on YouTube
The poster has a diverse group of kids displaying what you should and should not do while at the pool. It received criticism when people noticed that all the “not cool” kids were black.
So Daysha had a few co-workers take a look at the same picture to see if they could see exactly what she noticed when she first saw it.
At first, some people didn't notice anything...
...while others hit the nail on the head.
And when they realized how problematic the picture was, their frustration grew.
It reminded some that media has a huge impact on society.
Others empathized with people of color and recognized that, even if it's unintentional, the media perpetuates stereotypes.
But some people were still having a hard time seeing how the picture was problematic.
And when they finally understood why it received so much criticism, they were extremely disappointed.
Some also realized that other races aren't even represented in the picture.
And that in order to make progress, it's important that society is sensitive on all levels.
