Family of boy in 'racist' H&M ad forced to relocate

david nganga

January 16, 2018 1:50 PM

The boy's father stated that they are no longer having their 'normal family life'

The parents of the young boy at the centre of the “racist” H&M hoodie storm have had to move out of their home owing to the widespread backlash triggered by the controversial ad.

Speaking to ITV's This Morning show, Terry Mango and her husband Frank Odhiambo said they have been forced to seek shelter elsewhere with Frank explaining that they no longer have their “normal family life.”

“As much as people have gotten involved in this, for me it’s very important that people understand that me and Teresa, we have a son, we have other children in the home that we are raising, and we have an obligation to protect our children,” he said.

Racist 'hoodie' ad

Liam Mango was pictured in a hoodie on the H&M website which read ‘coolest monkey in the jungle; a photo that sparked outrage worldwide with people calling the decision to use a black child to model the hoodie “racist” and “unacceptable.”

Liam's parents however said they didn’t even know about the hoodie before the internet erupted. Even then, Terry stated that she did not see the whole fuss behind the ad adding that people should act differently based on their opinions on racism.

“It is not an overreaction when it comes to racism, everyone should act differently based on their opinions of what racism is,” she said, explaining that she’s faced racism and even been called a ‘monkey’ herself.

“To put the T-shirt and the word ‘monkey’ with racism, maybe that is not my way of looking at it,” Terry added.

“I’m just looking at Liam, a black young boy, modeling a T-shirt that has the word ‘monkey’ on it.

“Everybody should respect different opinions based on racism.”

david nganga