Florida-based graphic design company Seasalt & Co. has responded to a request for comment Colorlines made on Monday about its ad featuring a noose hanging from a tree. On Tuesday, Seasalt posted a message on its Facebook page and then sent a nearly identical note to Colorlines. Excerpts from the statement addressed to us:
"We have made it clear why we chose a certain graphic for a certain product. It has nothing to do with any race. Our collection is about rising above and refusing to let the world run us and hang us by any mistakes we have made or didn’t make. […] Not everyone understands art as It’s subjective. We are tired of the hate, judgement and injustice. Seeing the noose wasn’t meant to think of a certain race being hung. It was left empty to represent that we refuse to be judged and hung in a non [literal] sense. […] This originated from personal experiences, and [we] wanted to create something that had purpose and meaning. In the art industry it can be very catty and we ourselves, as well as other artist[s] have been ridiculed without even having a chance to be heard. […] . We are huge supporters and advocates and are the voice for the unheard.
We also will be donating a % of proceeds from this not yet released collection to charities that support equality and artist[s]. Maybe even a scholarship fund. […] We want to fight for justice and equality and make it known we are no longer following the leaders of hate or bulling/attacking of others. We take concerns VERY seriously and understand our choice of graphic may have been too much for some and that is not what we want. We understand some are more sensitive than others and that is okay. We have decided to change the image out from one of our fellow artist[s] [ . …] We understand many have been out raged by the image, however we also witnessed some horrible behavior by users, our personal lives and even family members have been threatened with harm
Again we apologize for any hurt feelings, we are taking means to remedy this issue.
The e-mail, as well as the similar Facebook post, is signed by "Ashleigh" but does not include a last name.