Essence editor hires non-black fashion director: What do you think?

If you haven’t heard the news, Essence editor-in-chief, Angela Burt-Murray, recently decided to hire a non-black fashion director.

According to an article on Black Voices, she told them Ellianna Placas is just a part of Essence’s growing fashion team. Placas is a former fashion editor at “O: Home” and “Us Weekly.”

“I understand that this issue has struck an emotional chord with our audience,” she said, “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.”

Burt-Murray also wrote an opinion piece on The Grio addressing the situation. She expressed disappointment that hiring a white editor creates such controversy while the magazine’s stories about serious issues in the community go unnoticed.

“When we run pieces on how unemployment is devastating black men? Nada,” she wrote. “When we run story after story on how HIV is the leading cause of death for black women ages 18-34? Zilch. The things that really are the end of our world apparently aren’t.”

Former fashion editor Michaela Angela Davis isn’t feeling the decision and expressed her thoughts on Facebook:

“If there were balance in the industry, if we didn’t have a history of being ignored and disrespected…if more mainstream fashion media included people of color before the ONE magazine dedicated to black women “diversified” it would feel different. There is one precious seat at the fashion shows that says Essence the magazine for black women. When asked, “What is your unique perspective for black women” How is that answered?”

Being a relatively objective person, I can understand why both parties feel the way they do. I understand Burt-Murray’s decision to hire an individual based on the talent and expertise she brings to the table. And I’m sure Burt-Murray knows what she’s looking for in a fashion director and the characteristics of a good one, so I’m pretty positive she made the best decision she could. I know a lot of people don’t feel Placas can bring a black perspective to fashion, but what does that even mean?

I totally understand Davis’s viewpoint as well. We are highly ignored when it comes to mainstream fashion, and that does not sit well with me. I can probably count on one hand the number of black people I see in fashion mags like “Vogue.” I definitely see where she’s coming from: Maybe if mainstream media had diversified first, this wouldn’t be such a big deal.

So now I ask ya’ll: What do you think? Should Burt-Murray have hired a black woman for the job? Or does it even matter? I’d really love to hear your thoughts on this so leave me a comment! : )

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Photo from: cocoture.blogspot.com

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Jamie Fleming-Dixon

Jamie Fleming-Dixon is the founder and author of ForColoredGurls.com. Her intention is to empower readers, inspire them to live their most fabulous lives and to motivate them to reach for their dreams and goals. This is done through motivational articles and quotes, interviews with women from all walks of life, posts on topics that affect every area of women's lives and more. For more info about Jamie and FCG, email her at info@forcoloredgurls.com.

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Tags: Angela Burt-Murray, Essence editor hires white editor, Essence hires non-black editor, Essence magazine, Essence magazine controversy

This entry was posted on July 30, 2010 at 7:45 pm and is filed under Culture, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.