Ethics, Crisis Communication, and Gucci’s Blackface Sweater

Department

Communication

Department Name When Scholarship Produced

Communication

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-14-2023

Abstract

Fashion commentators reacted with fury when Gucci fashion house introduced a black sweater with a collar that covered the lower part of the wearer's face with an exaggerated red lip outline (Held, 2019). Critics called it blackface, a racially charged costume that dates to before the U. S. Civil War. White musicians in minstrel shows covered their faces with black soot and painted their mouths red, then performed with exaggerated movements mocking and belittling Black people. The style grew out of favor but nonetheless resurfaces, often with the wearer claiming a misunderstood attempt at humor or ignorance of its meaning.

Journal Title

Journal of Media Ethics

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