When Beyoncé performed at the Super Bowl in a tribute to the Black Panthers, it was a proud and important display of Blackness. Race was an integral part of the performance, so if anyone wants to pay homage to the homage, they need to take that into account. That certainly didn't happen when Australian magazine Good Weekend put a white model in Beyoncé's place in their spread dedicated to the fashion of the event.
Writer and Maxine Beneba Clarke noticed the spread and took to Twitter to call out its ridiculousness.
Good Weekend's Beyonce black-panther-inspired fashion spread, complete with an Anglo model in a red, white & blue colonial-style jacket... pic.twitter.com/TqBp1RbAq0
— Maxine Beneba Clarke (@slamup) November 6, 2016
In the spread, the white model has donned a military-inspired jacket and trousers, with the issue directly stating that it was inspired by Beyoncé's Super Bowl fashion. It's hard to appropriately take inspiration from something while at the same time totally ignoring its message.
Many other users agree, responding to the Tweet with appropriate GIFs and statements like "What even?"
Hopefully, this was just a somewhat tone-deaf misstep from a well-intentioned piece. However, it's an important reminder to pay respects appropriately and to make sure we're really listening to what these moments are about.
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