McBride - Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch

1) The author is arguing that Abercrombie & Fitch practice racial discrimination without actually saying that they are.
2) The author starts his argument by mentioning how Abercrombie “has worked hard to produce a brand strongly associated with a young, white, upper-class, and leisure lifestyle” (66). McBride talks about how the company devised a marketing and advertising strategy that celebrates whiteness (66). This marketing strategy worked because the company made sure to use the models that fit the “A&F look”. Not only did they have models that fit that look, they also made sure to hire employees that looked that way. McBride talked about how people of color or people that did not fit the look were not even considered for employment because they did not look “Abercrombie”. The people who were not considered to be “Abercrombie” were sent to work in the stockroom, or the overnight shifts. McBride states, “As one former assistant manager of one of Abercrombie’s larger stores in the Midwest informed me, all the brand reps in his stores were white, and all of the people who worked in the stockroom were black.” (72). The author talks about how the models were selected, and the rules that they were given, in which most of them included not allowing the looks that were considered in fashion in the African American communities.
3) If Abercrombie & Fitch can get away with unabashed discrimination, then can a store that would be opposite, as in promote only black fashion, not only exist, but exist as strongly? Why did it take so long for a lawsuit to be filed against Abercrombie & Fitch if they have been practicing that advertising strategy for many years?
4) I believe that it is wrong that Abercrombie & Fitch were able to get away with this type of discrimination for many years, especially in this day and age. The reason they got away with this was because no one bother to speak up against the company. The employees were even afraid to mention anything to their managers, or when they did finally decide to mention something they were told to just forget about it and to not care. People followed a “path of least resistance” by not filing a lawsuit sooner, or doing more arguing with their employers. The higher ranked managers thought that they were right in discriminating people, and most of the employees just turned their heads the other way. I think that the people that decided to leave because of the stores practices were smart for leaving, and not participating in that system of white dominance.