Essence Magazine, which is considered to be the nation’s premier African-American women magazine, recently hired a new person to fulfill the position as Fashion Director. However, Essence didn’t know the recent hire would cause much controversy: the new fashion director is white.
The controversy over the hiring of, Eliana Placas, first started when a former Essence employee posted on Facebook how upset she was about the decision. Editor-in-Chief of Essence, Angela Burt-Murray, responded in an opinioned piece on The Grio stating that Placas initially joined the Essence team six months ago to run the fashion section on a freelance basis before being hired as the fashion director.
“I got to see firsthand her creativity, her vision, the positive reader response to her work, and her enthusiasm and respect for the audience and our brand,” Burt-Murray said. “As such, I thought she’d make an excellent addition to our team. And I still do. This decision in no way diminishes my commitment to black women, our issues, our fights.”
It seems the pick has upset many from the black community particularly women who feel the representation of black women in any industry needs to be more visible.
On the other hand, there are those who feel Essence did the right thing showing it doesn’t always have to be about race, but who is qualified.
What are your thoughts?
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