Bo’s Bagels Blackface Blunder
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Report by Raven Saunt of The Daily Mail:
“Bo’s Bagels in Harlem was recently engulfed in heated discussion over its wooden advertising board crafted in the shape of a cartoon bagel wearing sunglasses.
“The life-sized cutout, created by artist Tom Sanford, featured white sneakers, teeth grills that spelled out ‘Harlem World’ and a gold ring emblazoned with the lettering ‘NYC.’
“[T]he content creator [Anastazia X] the content creator explained how her friend, Harlem-based photographer Carl Broady, had been the one to bring the sign to her attention.
Carl had taken to Instagram over the weekend to blast the cartoon creation as a ‘harmful, disrespectful caricature of black people.’
“He wrote a lengthy caption to ‘condemn’ the sign’s ‘offensive’ appearance, adding: ‘The sign’s exaggerated features, bulging lips and teeth, and darkened skin tone, along with the overall presentation, recall the racist caricatures historically used to degrade Black people.’explained how her friend, Harlem-based photographer Carl Broady, had been the one to bring the sign to her attention.”
From Rana Novini at NBC4 in New York:
“Tom Sanford, the artist behind the design of “bagel guy”, spoke about what he wanted the piece of art to represent.
“‘I did not intend it to be necessarily African American, but I did want it to be of Harlem,’ Sanford told News 4.
“Sanford’s art has been featured in the bagel shop before, and elsewhere, with cutouts of Knicks players being displayed near City Hall recently. Despite the criticism, he stands by the design for Bo’s Bagels.”
The story by Selena Hill at Black Enterprise about the “White-Owned Harlem Bagel Shop”:
“A Harlem bagel shop has removed its cartoon mascot after accusations that the artwork resembled racist stereotypes sparked backlash online.”
“The controversy began last week when Harlem-based photographer Carl Broady criticized the mascot in an Instagram post, describing it as a ‘disrespectful caricature of Black people,’ reports The New York Post. Broady argued that its exaggerated facial features, prominent lips and teeth, and darkened skin tone evoked racist imagery historically used to demean African Americans.”
It reminds me of the Dennis the Menace controversy in 1970 when Hank Ketcham introduced Jackson into the panel and was completely clueless as to what the fuss was about.
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