LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Ballerina Misty Copeland, who has been married to her husband Olu Evans for seven years, is facing people’s wrath online after starting a petition to add more inclusive shades of color to the traditional pink Apple ballet shoe emoji.
Copeland, 41, who became the first African-American female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, created a petition on Change.org in September, stating "Let's Make a Pointe! Apple Needs More Shades for The Ballet Shoe."
On September 21, she posted about the initiative to her 1.8 million Instagram followers, explaining ballet started in 15th century Italy for the White elite and the shoes are pink to match fair skin color.
Copeland and her husband Evans currently live in an Upper West Side condo that costs over $3 million. The couple tied the knot in July 2016 and later went on to secretly welcome their son Jackson in 2022.
Evans, the cousin of actor Taye Diggs, is a corporate attorney who went to law school at Emory University and passed the bar in 2007.
He is the owner of a dancewear company called Muse Dancewear, which sells ballet slippers and tights alongside ribbons and paint to keep slippers in shape.
What did Misty Copeland say about her petition?
Copeland reflected on her petition in an Instagram video, alongside the caption, "Fortunately, ballet shoe companies are beginning to embrace diversity by offering pointe shoes in various shades. Yet, when I use Apple's pointe shoe emoji, I only see European Pink."
“In an era where Apple showcases diversity across its emoji spectrum, why is the pointe shoe left behind?' This petition isn't just about an emoji. It's about ensuring the art of ballet, in all its forms, celebrates every dancer's story and shade,” she continued.
The seasoned dancer highlighted on the petition how her career in ballet has included "moments of triumph and challenge."
“One of those challenges was the ubiquitous 'European Pink' pointe shoe, a shade that didn't reflect my skin tone,” she said.
“Time and time again, I found myself coloring my pointe shoes, striving for a match closer to my own shade. It was a constant reminder of the subtle ways dancers of color have not been included,” Copeland added.
Internet slams Misty Copeland for the petition
As of Saturday, October 7, Copeland’s petition has already garnered 22,343 signatures of its goal of 25,000.
While some users supported the cause, there were also many who slammed the ballerina for seeing racism where it doesn't exist.
“You are creating a racist-pseudo problem,” one person wrote under her post, according to Daily Mail.
“It's an emoji, good grief,' and 'Pink isn't a skin color,” a second user wrote, while the third expressed their angst and the reason why they were not signing.
“I'm not signing because there are a lot more important causes to fight for other than shoe color. I'm sorry but immigrants are raped and beaten on their journey here, wars and famine across the globe, and shoes? Really?” they wrote.
“The world doesn’t have to always have to adapt or conform to the politics of black Americans,” another commented.
“I just think it’s silly. When I see the ballet slipper, I just think ballerina. There’s no color attached to it,” one more wrote.
