Late last week, Essence made the bold yet controversial move of naming a white woman, Ellianna Placas, to be the fashion director for the nation’s largest magazine for black women.
There was dissension in the ranks, for sure, and it prompted the following response from editor Angela Burt-Murray today:
“I understand that this issue has struck an emotional chord with our audience…however I selected Ellianna, who has been contributing to the magazine on a freelance basis for the last six months, because of her creativity, vision, the positive reader response to her work and her enthusiasm and respect for the audience and our brand. We remain committed to celebrating the unique beauty and style of African-American women in Essence magazine and online at Essence.com. …
“When we run pieces on how unemployment is devastating black men? Nada. When we run story after story on how HIV is the leading cause of death for black women age 18-34? Zilch. The things that really are the end of our world apparently aren’t.”
Now maybe Placas really is the right woman for the job. The only thing is, Essence has published dozens of articles comparing opportunities available to white women versus black women — and the conclusions have always shown that black women get the short end of the stick.
Take this June 2010 article on unemployment as an example:
Figures of unemployment rates among Black women have shown a promising decline, going from 13.7 percent in April to 12.4 percent (a 10% decline), reports Black Voices.
On the other end of the spectrum, the unemployment rate for White women has remained at unaffected at 7.4 percent. Though the latest figures are promising, Black women have wavered around the 13 percent unemployment mark over the past year, which is still 65 percent higher than White women.
While there is much to celebrate in terms of unemployment in the Black community — the rate dropped from 16.5 percent to 15.5 overall — Black unemployment is still 76 percent higher than Whites.
And then there’s also this March 2010 piece about the lack of diversity in the fashion industry:
Judging by this year’s figures it seems like designers are no longer as excited to celebrate diversity as they were in 2008 when nearly 18% of models were either Black, Latina or Asian. 18% is, of course, not much of a difference, but it was a step in the right direction from 2007 shows in which nearly 100% of the models were White. …
Let’s hope that by continually highlighting the lack of diversity on runways designers can start presenting models (and shows) that better represent the world we live in.
But how better to display progress on both fronts than by making an effort to hire a fashion director of color at a black women’s magazine? Given the state of journalism today, I have to believe there’s a qualified editor out there would have jumped at the chance if offered. But it seems like Essence consciously chose not to put its money where its mouth is.
UPDATE: Reader Jo sent in the following link as a tip. Essence sounded off last month when it was announced Angelina Jolie was attached to play Cleopatra in an upcoming biography, and was none too happy about it:
Commentary: Another White Actress to Play Cleopatra?
Monday, June 14, 2010 | 3:00 PM
by Shirea L. CarrollJust when we thought there weren’t enough leading roles for Black women in Hollywood, they create one and give it to a White woman. …
Schiff already heavily endorses Jolie, stating, “I think she’d be perfect for it and I can see a possible Oscar in her future. Physically, she’s got the perfect look.”
Gasp, the nerve! “She’s got the perfect look?” Honestly, I don’t care how full Angelina Jolie’s lips are, how many African children she adopts, or how bronzed her skin will become for the film, I firmly believe this role should have gone to a Black woman.
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This may be the death knell for Essence. A few years ago they had a cover story on Black Love – featuring Diddy and his on again off again baby mama Kim Porter. Essence, of all publications, knows how extremely sensitive the issues of beauty are in the Black community, having to conform to a White standard, etc. While I have no reason to believe Ellianna is less than 100% qualified, the idea that a White woman is telling Black women what their beauty standards should be is symbolically a FAIL.
The best person for the job should be hired regardless of race. When Caucasians discriminate against Blacks, it’s racism. When Blacks discriminate against Caucasians, it’s racism. Racism is racism.
I agree with Discordia. Though this hiring decision may not help the statistics for black unemployment, I do respect Essence’s willingness to hire a person regardless of her race. If only America’s electoral process had been so color-blind in 2008…
Discordia
Well said, thank you
Maybe this just shows how silly a “blacks only” magazine is in the first place?
Seems to me that choosing a Caucasian over a black at a black-community-aimed magazine means that the mag sees no color in it’s hiring practices. And it is too bad they caught flak for that.
Two thumbs up Discordia
Maybe a bit off topic, but, since when is Cleopatra black? African (born in Egypt), yes, but definitely not black.
Cleopatra was not black, just as most Egyptians today are not black. Mediterranean people are not the same as African. At most, Cleopatra was part Egyptian and part Greek. It would be just as inaccurate to use a black actress in the role as a white (non-Greek) actress. Use your heads, people!
I actually think that Essence and Ebony are better women’s magazines than the “white” counterparts. Less sex sex sex with an occasional article about how wonderful abortion is, and more recognition that a woman is more than her reproduction system. I think it is good that they are apparently being race/color-blind, but this illustrates the reality of being a niche publication that advocates for a particular demographic. If you don’t play by certain rules, you get slaughtered. The dark side of identity politics is that insularity is THE ONE WAY. Unless, of course, said insularity excludes you.
This hire is a head scratcher. The whole “race shouldn’t matter” is a long running excuse to keep Blacks out, and Essence, of all publications, should know that.
@AllyKat – and of course Essence was against Angie’s casting in Cleopatra! Who knows, maybe Ellianna will be a good thing. I may actually subscribe again, instead of swiping them from my ex-roomie (Actually Merri, you lost those issues, LOL)
Yes, it is racism to hire blacks over whites to fill quotas, etc. RAcism exists no matter your color of skin or nationality. I have worked in HR for tons of years. It is called disparate treatment. Hiring a minority to fill a position over a non-minority to just fill their EEO quota and not because of their skills. Non-minorities can sue if they feel they were more qualified for the promotion than their counterparts but were passed over because of their sex, race or color. I applaud this magazine for finding someone based on their skills and not just their race and color.
This is a tough call. I can see both sides of the issue. I think in a perfect world, it would be ideal for a qualified African-American candidate to be hired for the job. But we don’t know who responded to the “call” – if there was one. We don’t know what their qualifications were like. Who is to say that those who responded were cut out for the job? If this person had obviously done work for the magazine before and received praise for it – why is it an issue? If nobody had known this woman’s color and just seen the quality of her work – would anyone have been the wiser?
At the end of the day, I think it’s a case by case basis on whether something is more lookism or plain out discrimination. I think Chi Chi LaRue, a gay man and raving drag queen directing best selling straight porn is awesome and welcome and there isn’t anything wrong with that. Men working at Hooters – not so much. Some lines of work should be clearly established as not for everybody and others should not. What exactly that comprehensive list should be – I can’t fully say.
I wonder when there will be a magazine just for white people? That would be awesome.
Ferd, I think it’s called Architectural Digest.
I thought it was called “Country Living”. My bad
cleopatra was a ptolemy and therefore all greek last i checked greeks were caucasians
On the topic of Cleopatra: She was Macedonian — pure Macedonian. All of the Ptolemies incestuously married; full brothers married full sisters. The Ptolemies believes in racial-ethnic purity. Every Classicist knows this. Cleopatra VII, the last one, made an effort to learn the Eqyptian language which sets her apart from her ancestors. However, she’s Egyptian because she was born in Alexandria but she was not Semitic or Negroid — she was pure Caucasian.
Wow Merri Lee, please tell me you don’t really believe that. It is that attitude that gets in the way of minorities succeeding. You don’t see Asians (Chinese, Korean, Indian, Japenese, etc.) complaining about not getting hired because of race. I never want someone to judge me by my race.
I know this will upset people but has it ever occured to Essence that the disparity they are complaining about when it comes to employment may be caused by an educational gap. Like it or not the “African American” community on average has a lower level of education than other minorities.
I’m guessing that Morgan Freeman would wonder why there is a magazine devoted to black women in the first place.
It’s a white woman working for a black woman. What’s the problem here?
The internet is a wonderful thing. “I am your people(?)” can make some vaguely incomprehensible point about this issue, which is strange enough as it is, and it almost seems to make sense. Wow…
I never knew the specific history of Cleopatra, but even if she *were* pure Egyptian, she would not have been black. My Egyptian friend has a light golden-hued skin, definitely not black.
The vast majority of readers of Architectural Digest and Country Living would not blink if they announced a black person to head the respective publications.
If you have a problem with this, you are a racist. No debate, no excuse. Either skin color matters or it doesn’t. You can’t choose when it does and when it doesn’t.
The only people who would have a problem with this are insecure and think the only way they could succeed is if others are excluded. If a black woman was chosen fashion director of Vogue, Elle, Glamour, or Lucky, people would be throwing confetti in the air. If the people at Essence were able to recognize the skill of an employee and her commitment to the magazine instead of her skin color, well, good for them.
Discordia:
The House of Ptolemy was descended from Alexander’s general Ptolemy, a Macedonian, but they intermarried heavily with Greeks, and also somewhat with Egyptians. They also made political marriages with other Macedonian “successor” kingdoms.
There were many incestuous marriages among the Ptolemies, but that was a result of their becoming acculturated to Egypt – they were following the example of the earlier native Pharaonic dynasties. Neither the earlier dynasties nor the Ptolemies were exclusively incestuous, and neither had any sort of ‘race purity’ doctrime.
fallingstar, I think modern day Egyptians belong to a different ethnic group than the one ancient Egyptians (including Cleopatra’s contemporaries) belonged to. As for Cleopatra herself, she was of Greek origin, therefore, white.
Nati, they do– modern Egyptians are much closer to Arab ethnicity (and more of them are Muslim). The ancient Egyptians were not dark brown-skinned the way we think of Africans, but Nubians were. I studied a coin with Cleopatra’s face on it, one of the few images we have of her, and she was not the image we think of today– she had a sharply hooked nose, and she wasn’t otherwise a great beauty. She wasn’t hideous, either, but accounts focus on her body and especially her charisma. No actress has embodied that yet.
Anna, I always thought that modern day Egyptians and ancient Egyptians belonged to two completely different ethnic groups. In fact, I always thought of modern day Egyptians as Arabs and I think it’s a very common assumption – during our history lessons (at least when I was in school) we were always taught that after the Arab conquest of North Africa in 7th century ancient Egyptians as a nation/ethnicity simply ceased to exist and we replaced by Arabs. However, I’ve recently read an article insisting that that assumption is not correct and that modern day Egyptians descend from both ancient Egyptians and their Arab conquerors, which sets modern day Egyptians apart from the rest of the Arab world.
Whatever the case might be, it’s probably still not correct to try to imagine what ancient Egyptians might have looked like based on modern day Egyptians’ appearance. I think in trying to visualize what ancient Egyptians may have looked like our best bet is the art of ancient Egypt – i.e. the paintings, the statues, etc. Judging by ancient Egypt’s art, ancient Egyptians appear to have olive or even darker skin tone, mostly dark almond-shaped eyes, straight dark hair and usually straight thin noses. Judging by paintings, murals, etc. they definitely had dark skin and looked nothing like, say, Europeans but they also appear to have been physically distinct from other African people.
Anyway, none of this has any bearing on Cleopatra and/or her looks – she was Greek and probably looked nothing like her Egyptian contemporaries. I too, btw remember reading somewhere that she (Cleopatra) was not actually beautiful, but rather charismatic, charming and a great seductress.
P.S. I liked Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. Compared to Monica Bellucci (totally wrong for the part), Claudette Colbert (also wrong) and Leonor Varela (godawful), she was great. But I always thought Kay Francis in her heyday would have been perfect as Cleopatra. Barbara Stanwyck could have pulled it off and may be Anna Magnani, Ava Gardner and may be, just may be, Anouk Aimee.
*were replaced* fixed