![FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2018, file photo, a model wears a creation as part of the Gucci women's Fall/Winter 2018-2019 collection, presented during the Milan Fashion Week, in Milan, Italy. Italian fashion designer Gucci is announcing a major push to step up its diversity hiring following an uproar over an $890 sweater that resembled blackface, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. The company also says it will hire a global director for diversity and inclusion, a newly created role. Gucci also is promising to launch a scholarship program to cultivate diverse design talent. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/MBKA7Q3G6PGBJNGOGBYM6LAWNE.jpg?smart=true&auth=86550a967c64b2fed58ca17a3948bbad4c1093c7b3c49b6aef6d81b4d93abc05&width=400&height=225)
A Gucci model during the Milan Fashion Week, wearing an $890 sweater that sparked a "blackface" outcry. Antonio Calanni / AP
A Gucci model during the Milan Fashion Week, wearing an $890 sweater that sparked a "blackface" outcry. Antonio Calanni / AP
Blackface is never fashionable and pleading ignorance is no excuse for it
We are not talking about harmless dressing up here and heated responses to racist imagery are not overreactions