Otherwise, businesses are essentially benefiting from the social struggles at the heart of the protests, she said. “It’s more of just a show of good faith.”īoth independent creatives and companies should be donating profits to demonstrate solidarity, said Fresco Steez, an activist with Movement for Black Lives and co-founder of Black Youth Project 100. “I’m really not making a profit on these,” Mayer said. She gives 25% of each sale to the Black Voters Matter Fund. If everyone does that, it adds up to a lot.” “I’m just trying to do the little bit that I can do. “I can only hope that they would understand that I’m trying to come from a good place,” Mayer said. But her Etsy shop is her biggest platform. She understands critics may dislike the link between rosé and race relations. Kate Mayer, 37, of Cincinnati, decided to offer a Black Lives Matter wine bottle stopper among her dozens of handmade wine stoppers. “I like the idea of offering it to someone who might want to put it in their yard to make a statement - a cute statement, of course,” said Boutelle, who has not chosen yet to which organization to donate $10 from every sale of the $60 gnome. Boutelle hopes people don’t question his sincerity because his support is displayed on a mythical figure with a pointy hat. He has since gotten a few orders for either Black Lives Matter gnomes or African American gnomes. “Hopefully, someone who sees it is not offended.” “I was just trying to be very careful and present something that you might say is neutral,” Boutelle said.
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He also painted it with a darker skin tone. The yellow-and-black-clad gnome - a nod to the colors used on a Black Lives Matter website - wears a “BLM” hat. After making gay pride gnomes, he decided in July to try painting a Black Lives Matter gnome. There’s also potential for the items themselves to be seen as offensive or tone-deaf.Īshleigh Boutelle, 45, of Twin Peaks, California, custom paints garden gnomes as a side business. To demonstrate sincerity, sellers should commit to making these items permanently to show their efforts are not just an attempt “to jump on a fad,” she added. It’s not surprising that independent merchants wanted to express solidarity too, said Patti Williams, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Manufacturers soon began making BLM T-shirts, face masks and signs. The protest movement ignited by Floyd’s death in May under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer compelled businesses large and small to declare publicly that they were “woke” to the pain of Black people. “I’ve been thinking about what’s systemic racism and what is racial profiling,” Muller said. Muller’s three children were the first to warn her she might appear to be capitalizing on racial unrest. But to many onlookers, the sales through the crafts marketplace Etsy may straddle an uncomfortable line between supporting the movement and exploiting it. The white sellers insist they are not trying to make light of racial issues or widen their profit margins.
Other examples of homespun BLM merchandise include wine stoppers and even garden gnomes - objects more often associated with white suburbia. The kit comes with cookie cutters imprinted with former President Barack Obama’s face, sprinkles and icing in red, black and green - the colors of the Pan-African or Black Liberation flag. The 67-year-old white woman, who has been selling homemade cookie-decorating kits online since March, decided to offer one with a Black Lives Matter theme. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.Ī few weeks after nationwide protests erupted over the police killing of George Floyd, Julie Muller looked for something positive she could contribute to the movement from her Houston home. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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