When Essence–a magazine that targets black women–hired Ellianna Placas–a white woman–back in the summer of 2010 to be its fashion director, people were not very happy about it. Former Editor-in-Chief Angela Burt-Murray was criticized for hiring a white person at a black magazine, in an already unevenly white industry. In addition to eliciting a lot Read more →
Okay, so, as you’ve probably read at some point somewhere today, Essence magazine hired a white fashion director.
Some black people in the industry–and surely some outside of it–are really pissed.
Essence, for those living under a 1960s-style rock, is a lifestyle magazine geared towards black people. Naysayers are angry because:
A. This white person–her name is Ellianna Placas–is filling up one of the few spots in the publishing industry designed specifically for a black person.
B. How will a white person understand modern black style?
