<<Print>>

Delta Airlines has been accused of �racism� and forced to apologise after a tweet it posted about the World Cup portrayed Ghana with a picture of a giraffe � despite the fact that there are no giraffes in Ghana. The tweet congratulated the US football team for its 2 � 1 victory over the African nation last night, and the airline�s social media team clearly wanted to represent this with a striking image. The Statue of Liberty was understandably chosen to stand for the US but, in a choice described as �racial stereotyping� by one football writer, the airline displayed a distinct lack of local knowledge by using a picture of the long-necked animal to represent Ghana. Large swathes of Africa are giraffe-free � including Ghana and the majority of its West African neighbours. Twitter user Tom Chaplin wrote: �What do giraffes have to do with Ghana?� Another (@demimoiselle) said the tweet showed Delta thought that �Ghana = Africa = giraffe�, and a New Jersey-based blogger (@zellieimani) described it as the �most ignorant and racist thing this week�. Others came to the airline�s defence, however, describing the incident as �ignorance� not �racism�. Brian Hennigan tweeted: �Being racist and not knowing where giraffes live are two different things, leave Delta alone.�