Is This Gap Kids Ad Racist?

Gap clothing company has apologized for a recent ad that some have said is racist, while others called the move an overreaction.

The ad in question, which you can see above, shows young, female members of Le Petit Cirque, a traveling "all-kid humanitarian cirque company" that does shows around the country.

It was run with the caption, "Meet the kids who are proving that girls can do anything."

Many people took issue with Gap's portrayal of the only black girl in the ad.

The Root, a popular black culture website, ripped into the popular clothing company in a scathing critique of the ad.

“It becomes problematic when the black child is positioned to be a white child’s prop,” Kirsten West Savali wrote.

Gap did not immediately return a Patch request for comment but has issued apologies for the ad elsewhere.

“As a brand with a proud 46 year history of championing diversity and inclusivity, we appreciate the conversation that has taken place and are sorry to anyone we’ve offended,” spokeswoman Debbie Felix told Fortune.

Some, though, said it wasn't so clear.

Filmmaker Matthew Cherry pointed out that Gap ran a similar ad last year, except the roles were reversed:

Huffington Post culture writer Zeba Blay called the controversy surrounding the ad "complicated."

"It is, perhaps, far too simplistic to simply call this ad racist," she wrote. "Upon seeing the ad and the reaction to it, I (as a writer who relishes in calling out racist BS), raised an eyebrow at how worked up people were over it. My initial reaction was not 'this is racist!', but that it was certainly a bad PR move."