Student group challenges Leggs hosiery line with Nude is More Than White movement

“Originally it didn’t even register with me as a racial issue,” third-year law student, Nawi Ukabiala, said.

Oftentimes people associate grassroots movements with election years and political campaigns. That was not the story last Thursday as seven students met at the Black Cultural Center to protest, saying, “Nude is more than white.”

The group gathered to plan a campaign to raise awareness regarding their problems with two common lines of L’eggs hosiery. One line of L’eggs hosiery for white women carries the title of “nude” pantyhose, while another for black women carries the title of “brown sugar” pantyhose.
The group wants to change the idea that normal nudity is white.

“The line [of products] isn’t the problem, just the naming,” third-year law student Joel Koer said.
Another third-year law student, Isaac Myers, agreed.

“It’s like having a ‘chocolate thunder’ Under Armour line for black men,” he said referencing the “brown sugar” line.
“Women of color probably deal with a lot of identity issues already,” Ukabiala said.

The group of protestors started the night off by reading poems regarding issues of race, and then followed it with some icebreaker games.
The icebreakers slowly formed a discussion on tough issues like race, hierarchies and raising consciousness.

“People are just anxious about the status quo, and you have to look at other perspectives and see if it works as well for other people,” Karissa Morton said.

Many in the group were originally hesitant about their cause, and didn’t see the larger societal problems with the hosiery. Founder Isaac Myers pestered people and sought to continually change their minds.

“When I first saw the flyer, I didn’t even read it,” Koer said. “It’s a big deal to me now, because it’s something that’s ignored a lot. This is one way to challenge the status quo.”

“Isaac had to break it down for me, we’re talking about small acts of racial discrimination,” Ukabiala said. “This issue is so genius to take up because there’s no political piece of discussion to it, it opens dialogue.”

The group will attempt to work with L’eggs to change its hosiery line, and not work against the brand.

“It’s important that we invite L’eggs to join us and not be adversarial. There’s so many products like this and if L’eggs is the first one to change, all the better for them,” Colin Johnson said.

“This is almost to their benefit,” senior Shaina Mugan said.

Students looking for more information can go to nudeismorethanwhite.tumblr.com and join the movement.

The group meets on Thursday nights and the location is currently undetermined for the next meeting.