Misty Copeland calls for more inclusive ballet-shoe emojis, sparking race debate

nypost.com:

Misty Copeland, who started a petition to add more inclusive shades of color to the traditional pink Apple ballet shoe emoji.Copeland, 41, the first black woman to become a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, posted about the initiative to her 1.8 million Instagram followers on Sept.

21, explaining that ballet started in 15th century Italy for the white elite and its shoes are pink to match fair skin color.

Critics say the trailblazing dancer is seeing racism where it doesn’t exist, posting comments like, “It’s an emoji, good grief” and “Pink isn’t a skin color.” Another didn’t dance around the issue, writing: “You are creating a racist-pseudo problem.” “I think this is too far,” wrote Abby Marie Johnson, who said Copeland backers pressured her to delete her comment.“People lashed back saying I was a privileged white girl who doesn’t get it, when in reality, I was a foster kid, dumped from home to home, and most of my foster siblings were of color,” Johnson, a 28-year-old Norfolk, Virginia resident, told The Post.“I just think it’s silly.

When I see the ballet slipper, I just think ballerina. There’s no color attached to it,” she added.“This wasn’t about race to me, I felt it was annoying to add more and more emojis so everyone in the world feels good.