Black Cotton Collection reappropriates racist imagery, but to what end?

by by Racialicious special correspondent Latoya Peterson

I remember when I was the only kid in my junior high school rocking Karl Kani sneakers. In a sea of Fila, Nike, and Adidas, my puffy white sneakers were often met with curious stares - without a recognizable label, people were at a loss as to my social status. Was I one of those poor kids who wore shoes from Kmart to school? Was this a new shoe brand that no one had ever heard of? Luckily for me, my Kani’s were a social statement: If someone asked about my shoes, I would reply that my family believed in supporting black designers.

It was a revolutionary response to fashion - the idea that one could advocate for social change through the messaging on the clothes they wear and the brands they support. For me, junior high was only the beginning of my fashion revolution. Over the next few years, I continued to be a conscious consumer. I have never set foot in any Abercrombie & Fitch affiliated store and question my friends who insist on wearing clothes from a label who inwardly (through hiring and promotion practices) and outwardly promotes a thin, white standard of beauty. I try to support smaller, independent labels, especially those that give back to the community. And I am currently torn over American Apparel - I liked the anti-sweatshop, fair wages, American made stance, but recent revelations about their CEO’s treatment of women and their fetish based ad campaigns have made me wary.

Still, with every day that passes, there seems to be a new label trying to make it’s way in the world, and stand out in the already over saturated fashion market.

The Black Cotton Collection - a collaboration between three young black artists known for their excellence in visual design in their respective fields - seeks to ignite a cultural dialogue by presenting provocative historical images and events and using their stylized look to promote an educated exchange of ideas. (Thanks to Nicky for the tip!)

The Black Cotton Site summarizes their mission in their introductory statement on their website:
Remember when art meant something? Had a purpose, value, seeked a message? Its been a long time since an artist created something powerful that made a statement commercially. The Black Cotton Collection is inspired off the derogatory images and degrading slurs that America still secretly embraces. We wanted to make sure that Americans as well as the people know that we’re not ignorant of whats going on…We were inspired from the black Africans who made a historical impact to our society, who died fighting for what they believed. We are the sons of our brave fathers who shed blood to get us where we are today. Through education we pass onto the next generation, own your own business, follow your dreams, and work together as a community, like our fathers did.

The site, resplendent in a red, black, green, and white polychrome theme, allows you to quickly and easily scroll through the various designs for men’s tee-shirts and sneakers. Many of the designs are clear and easily interpreted: the “Afri - Not 4 Sale” and “Blood Slave Money” shirts depict a protest against the current culture. However, some of the designs are a bit more difficult to interpret or understand, especially to the casual viewer without a strong investment in black history and black culture.
Two of Black Cotton’s shirt designs feature images that could be seen as derogatory. One shirt details a tar black sambo figure, its exaggerated features and body partially obscured by the large slice of watermelon it is carrying. The second shirt puts forth the statement “Support Black Owned”, juxtaposing the strong lettering with another slice of watermelon.

The shirts are meant to be worn as satire; however, the loaded images selected for the line call the effectiveness of the messaging into question. The truth of the matter is that the sambo and watermelon imagery do not stand for one universal message, and cannot easily be explained to a curious casual bystander.

To illustrate, think about iconic shirts with strong messaging. A shirt with the peace symbol implies that the wearer is in favor of peace. A tee-shirt with the black power fist implies that the wearer believes in black solidarity and equality. Moreover, these concepts can be quickly explained in one or two sentences. The sambo figure is a part of African-American history, but is generally not a figure that most African-Americans want to identify with. Explaining the concepts of what Sambo represents, why it is a contested figure, how the original story was twisted a bit when it hit American shores, and how African-Americans still live under the shadow of the Sambo stereotype is an involved process. Unless one plans to tell curious passersby “I’m wearing this shirt because all white people think black people are coons anyway,” it is difficult to see what message the creators of black cotton intend to send.

Other companies that mix fashion with subversive messaging do exist, and are able to present their social commentary in such a way that the message is clear, and provokes conversation. Blacklava’s tee-shirt collection, which features slogans like “I will not love you long time” and “I am not a terrorist” calls racial assumptions on the carpet, and allows for small shots of social messaging to invade the minds of everyone who takes the time to read the shirt. The now defunct Uppity Negro website also flaunted their reclaimed title on tee shirts. A casual viewer of the tee-shirt may not feel comfortable asking the wearer what “Uppity Negro” means. However, they can easily type the term into a search engine and receive the history of the term and its modern applications. In addition, the Uppity Negro website does a commendable job of explaining the rationale for beginning the company/movement, and how they hope to educate others.

The Black Cotton site is conspicuously devoid of explanations. Aside from the introduction, all items are presented as is. There is no way to infer what the designers intended in their delivery of their message. In addition, the images change meanings, depending on the wearer. All the models on the Black Cotton website are black. However, what would the message be if a white person were to don these clothes? If a white man wore the “Support Black Owned” shirt with the watermelon image? Or if an Asian sneaker head wore the watermelon vandals - a shoe which features the Sambo character and a slice of watermelon in the shoe design? What message does Black Cotton convey then?

An article in Format magazine interviewed the creators of the line, and they superficially explained their motivations for the line:

Format: Where did the idea of the Black Cotton Collection start, and how did you all come together to finally bring this idea to life?

Justice: It started with my frustration of the success of these huge companies. I’m tired of seeing brands making money of our culture. It’s ridiculous. I watched them go to the hood, take pictures of us, profile us in their power point presentations, joke and laugh about our heritage and lifestyle, but then will turn around and sell us their brand.

What’s even more ridiculous is to see the people embrace these brands. I feel like I’m in a position to do something powerful to make a statement. So through my frustration and lack of originality in the fashion industry I birthed The Black Cotton. It was easy to come together because we are all artists fighting with bigger companies on a daily basis. It only made sense to come together and create something for ourselves.

So the statement and intent is there - it just looks like the overall message is lost in translation.
It is worth noting that the interview does not touch on the heavy use of watermelon imagery or sambo imagery at all. It is also worth noting that while Justice rages against huge brands and their blatant profiteering practices, a Nike shoe was chosen as the base for the Watermelon Vandals. Is that supposed to be part of the message? Considering how much money Nike has made from selling urban culture, it would be interesting to have that explored in more detail.

To get another perspective on this issue, I asked Maurice Pendarvis to take a look at the Black Cotton Collection and provide his thoughts. As the editor of Vapors Magazine, and a self-proclaimed sneaker head, Maurice was definitely the person to ask about the Watermelon Vandals.

I asked Maurice what he thought the Black Cotton Collection was trying to convey through their messaging. He replied:

I think they want to take the negative racist imagery that was not only accepted but also encouraged by white America and force it back into their(white America’s) face. And the images are shocking and will definitely spark debate. I guess its like doing the Confederate flag in Jamaican colors. Even though the South was horrible time for black Americans its still part of our history - we built the South. I just worry about the use of their imagery having a reverse effect and now white people will be oh, so its cool to have these images and they want to wear them to show their black friends how “down” they are. Just like how Dave Chappelle was worried that his usage of the “N” word was making it seem ok for white people to use it now.

I also asked Maurice to think about the issue in light of another controversial sneaker release: the Adidas Y1-HUF sneakers, created by artist Barry McGee and released in early 2006. The sneaker featured what appeared to be an Asian caricature and caused a bit of upheaval in the Asian community upon its release. Would the vandals be viewed in the same light by African Americans?

Maurice disagrees, and opines:
Well with HUF x Adidas shoes, first of all Barry McGee is Asian so I don’t understand the “racist” label being put on it. My friend Maria, who is African-American has tattoo of a Picaninny eating watermelon on her arm. Is that self-racism? As far as sneaker heads looking twice…I think when it came it out it was like any other collabo release, sneaker heads live for that shit. But as soon as it became a controversial shoe it became more of a Holy Grail type shoe. If you have that shoe in a box somewhere you’re sitting on gold.
I also posed another question to Maurice, the same one I debated with myself above - considering that many of these images are intended to be satirical, do they hold the same meaning and intent if a white person were to wear the apparel? What message does it send if a black person is wearing the “Support Black Owned” tee (with the huge watermelon image)? What image does it if a white person wore the same shirt?

Maurice answers:
That’s what I’m saying is the reverse effect. Say if that shirt became popular would white people think those images are ok now since black people are wearing them? That’s danger of imagery like that. I personally don’t want to see that. I’m not hating on Black Cotton, I respect what they are doing but those images bring up those stories that my Grandparents used to tell me about growing up in the South. As for a white person wearing that shirts - If a white person wore a shirt wearing that imagery they would probably have a very bad day. I think most white people don’t want to even acknowledge slavery and how we were treated, so seeing that image would probably upset them.

Still, I can’t help but wonder about the appropriation of the messages the Black Cotton Collection is trying to promote. I feel like it would be all too easy for a white kid to sport the “Support Black Owned” shirt with a snicker. After all, aren’t ironic messages in fashion? And how much more ironic can you get with a white hipster sporting a “Support black Owned” tee-shirt with a watermelon on it?

To end, the Black Cotton Collection is striving for an excellent goal; however, they need to re-examine how they can make their messaging more effective.