Black Hole Solar System Graduation Hallmark Card Offends Blacks

A graduation card produced and sold by Hallmark for the past 3 years that references black holes with a solar system themed card came under fire by the black organization the NAACP, who say they heard the card greeting say black whores and not black holes. There is such a thing as the black English dictionary that gives alternate pronunciations of English words that only some blacks use, so it is understandable that some blacks can’t hear the proper pronunciation of words like hole, and mistake it for whore, but that doesn’t mean the cards should be removed from store shelves. Blacks that can’t hear correctly spoken English words as they are meant to be spoken should simply not buy the card, but instead they had to make an issue out of nothing. One person noted that it sounded in the card like kids were laughing at blackness. The characters are kids, and kids laugh, even at black holes. Haha, he said hole, pull me off a store shelf I’ve offended someone. Can’t the NAACP find some other cause to justify their existence?

Some people make an effort to find racism in everything, which is what makes them the real racists.

I heard of a boy that cried wolf so many times people eventually just ignored him.

I could add more to this non-controversy by saying things like, this card insults Israeli cherry farmworkers with its reference to "jew pitter."

There will never be an end to racism as long as people continue to see racism where it doesn’t exist.

Here’s the story from KABC:

A graduation card sold at local stores has been pulled from shelves after a civil rights group raised concerns about the content. The group claims the card’s micro-speaker plays a greeting that’s racist.

It is a graduation greeting from Hallmark that says, "Hey world, we are officially putting you on notice."

Members of the Los Angeles NAACP did take notice. As characters known as "Hoops" and "Yoyo" banter on, African American leaders hear offensive language.

"And you black holes, you are so ominous. Watch your back," the card vocalizes.

"That was very demeaning to African American women. When it made reference to African American women as whores and at the end, it says ’watch your back,’" said Leon Jenkins of the Los Angeles NAACP.

When Hallmark was reached by phone, they said the card is all a misunderstanding. The card’s theme is the solar system and emphasizes the power of the grad to take over the universe, even energy-absorbing black holes.

The card company says the card speaks about the power the grad will wield.

"The intent here is to say that this graduate is not afraid of anything," explained Hallmark spokesman Steve Doyal.

But that’s not what some people heard.

"You hear the ’r’ in there. ’Whores,’ not, ’holes.’ The ’r’ is in there," said Minnie Hatley of the Los Angeles NAACP.

Hallmark sent Eyewitness News a transcript of what the card says, but Hatley says that the actual audio raises questions.

"It sounds like a group of children laughing and joking about blackness, again," said another NAACP member.

Hallmark is now notifying all of its stores to pull the card. Walgreens and CVS are doing the same.

"In any situation where there is a circumstance that we need to be sensitive to, we try to learn from that experience," said Doyal.

However, NAACP members say they do not want to see the card on store shelves ever again.