Hallmark Pulls Electronic Greeting Card Amidst Racism Complaints

Hallmark has been forced to pull a popular graduation card from its store shelves this weekend after complaints that the card makes a racist reference. Given that the electronic greeting is a little fuzzy, opinion is mixed on the legitimacy of the complaint.

The card is a space-themed greeting for graduates of high school, or -- given the card's fairly childish tone -- public/elementary school. There are two characters speaking in the message, one named "Hoops," the other "Yoyo". Their declaration is that the world should look out for the card's recipient, who is bound to do big things.

Card Sends Mixed Message

The card declares, "Hey world, we are officially putting you on notice!" The greeting, which, as mentioned is space-themed, then says "And you black holes, you are so ominous. Watch your back." (Source: foxnews.com)

Unfortunately, not everyone is hearing the words "black holes". The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), including representative of the group's Los Angeles branch, Leon Jenkins, say the message sounds more like "black whores".

"That [message was very demeaning to women] ... and at the end it says 'watch your back,'" Jenkins said.

"It's passive intent aggressively stated in a way that [targets specific people, making them] feel insulted," added Carson-Torrance NAACP president, Olivia Verrett.

Further commenting on the card, Verrett said: "I am below class, and feel as though I can run the universe, but I'm not going to run the universe because I have to watch my back." (Source: aolnews.com)

Hallmark says the issue is just a misunderstanding, emphasizing that the message is meant to address a graduate's bright future. They say it has nothing to do with race.

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