When the new chocolate-coloured sofa set was delivered to her Brampton home, Doris Moore was stunned to see packing labels describing the shade as "Nigger-brown." It was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out the label just after delivery men from the Mississauga furniture store left.
"In this day and age, that's totally unacceptable," Moore said.
When interviewed yesterday by the Star, Romesh Kumar, Vanaik's assistant manager, passed the buck to his supplier, Cosmos Furniture in Scarborough. "Why should I take the blame?" he said. "I'm a trader, I don't manufacture. I sell from 20 companies, maybe 50 companies. How can I take care of all of them?" He said that he would check similar stock and make sure other labels were removed.
"That's terrible, that's a racial ... something?" Kumar said. "This is entirely wrong, but it's not my fault. It's my job to sell good product to people." He said the best he could do is to give Moore the telephone number of his supplier, so she could take it up with him.
The owner of Cosmos Furniture, Paul Kumar, no relation to Romesh, said he was upset to learn packing labels on products he sold carried a racial epithet. He passed the blame to a Chinese company, but apologized for the labels. He said he would contact the furniture maker in Guangzhou and demand they remove all similar labels.
Moore said she's not sure she wants the sofa set in her home. "Every time I sit on it, I'll think of that," she said.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Hello, all. I just read this article and I can honestly say as a caucasian person I am really confused about why this is offensive. I mean I understand the term with the "N" word was used as the name of the color of the sofa but it came from a company in China or something, right? Anyway the article says it came from a company called Mississauga. Isn't that a place in Canada that is known as a really multi-cultural place? Hello, mistakes happen and I think time should be better spent trying to talk it out with the manufactuer instead of blaming the seller.
Jason Dorsey
"Jay"
Iowa State
GO BUCKEYES!
HELLO TO ALL. IJUST SAW THE ARTICLE IN THE PAPER ABOUT THE SOFA, AND I THINK THE COMPANY WHO MADE AND PUT THE LABLE ON IT SHOULD HAVE ITS ASS SUED AND KICKED AT THE SAME TIME. END OF STORY!
K PAYNE
I'm appalled with the wording of this tag. I really don't know what I would have done, if my child ran across such a derogatory print. Is it me, or with in the last 6 months, racial issues toward African Americans have become so direct and frequent! What has happen? Could it be the lack of disrespect we show our own race that other races have started to disrespect us as well? Could be our demand for respecting our race has seized? All of the respect our ancestors fought hard to get from society seems to be gone. Could everything our race have endured with in the last few months, be viewed as "modern day slavery" for African American's? What stand can we, as a race, take to demand the self-respect to our selves, each other, and to our race, before things really get out of hand? How long is too long. If the Hispanic community can march and get results, why can't we? Seems like they have become what we use to be.... millions standing for their race, equality, betterment for themselves, and making a name and PLACE for them in country for which they live in, illegal or legal. What will we, as African Americans do to end this war with in our own race…..fight and stand for our race/community or fight to get a spot in line for the next pair of "retired" Jordan's to hit the shelves next?
This really looks like one of those made up things to get sympathy or publicity. I'm new at this blog site but I can't see this being for real. You guys are pathetic. This would never go at the UOF. You'd be laughed right off the campus.
Please,
Be for real! Do something better with your time. Read a book or something.
Spidy
Gators for ever.
If this is for real, I think the best thing she can do is return the sofa to the retailer she bought it from and ask for a refund. She should attach a letter explaining that even though it was NOT the retailer's fault, he is still accountable for the label slipping thru. Keep in mind, calling the manufacturer does little good if we still patronize the retailers he sells to. Now, if the retailer calls the manufacturer and says "I'm losing money because of your labels", the manufacturer feels the sting. When many (not even all) of us make this a practice, these things will significantly decrease.
Post a Comment