Macy's was called out for referring to performers from a Black sorority as a "diverse dance group" during their annualThanksgiving DayParade Thursday, according to USA Today and The Grio.- Zeta Phi Beta is a Black sorority founded at Howard University in 1920.
- Macy's has since deleted the tweet and replaced it with a message that said, "We loved having @ZPHIBHQ — an international, historically Black Sorority."
Macy's faced swift backlash after it referred to performers from a historically Black Greek life organization as a "diverse dance group" during its annual Thanksgiving parade on Thursday.
Macy's introduced the Centennial Steppers of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, which was founded at Howard University in 1920, in a since-deleted tweet that said: "What's that sound, you ask? Why it's the diverse dance group, Zeta Phi Beta Steppers!," according to USA Today and The Grio. The tweet drew swift backlash from users online.
—T HIVE (@TevonBlair) November 26, 2020
—Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) November 26, 2020
—Kamala’s Bayang (@CoreyPTownsend) November 26, 2020
In a follow-up tweet, Macy's said, "We loved having @ZPHIBHQ — an international, historically Black Sorority."
—Macy's (@Macys) November 26, 2020
A spokesperson for Macy's did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Thursday.
Referring to people of color as "diverse" is a "dangerous step," David Troutt, a professor of law at Rutgers Law School, wrote in an op-ed in OZY.
"Diversity-speak has turned me, a Black human, into a "diverse" person," he wrote in OZY, adding that referring to people of color as "diverse" is "a reminder that our presence reflects a racial compromise in which the indirect reference to White identity is embedded in the euphemistic label."
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was a television-only event with various safety measures in place amid the coronavirus pandemic, Insider's Michelle Mark reported. The parade also included a land acknowledgment ritual for people of native tribes, Insider's Ellen Cranley reported.
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- The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade featured its first land acknowledgment ritual for native tribes
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