‘Color bind’

In a letter to the editor, Sandry Levy of Hyde Park writes as follows:

In the Sept. 7 Style Issue of the Tribune Magazine, there is a commentary by Constance White about the lack of models of color in the fashion world.  Then the magazine proves the point by having photos without a single model of color other than one of the male models being Asian.  In the photo shoot of “Free Radicals,” the model was not just white, she was blond.  I myself am white, with nary a drop of non-white blood in me.  And I saw this as wrong.

The editor’s response?

We were aware that there were few models of color represented in this issue. However, the story about the lack of diversity in magazines and on runways is too important to ignore. This is a problem that even we face. Like other publications, we are working to remedy the situation.

So you can see that “remedying the solution” might include writing important stories about the lack of diversity. But it does not apparently include hiring models of color. So the editors were “aware” that there were few models (one) of color; they just didn’t actually do anything about changing the situation.

Do you note how one Asian male model becomes “few models of color”? What if the response were written as follows?

We were aware that there was only one model of color represented in this issue. However, we didn’t think anybody would notice the irony of a story about the lack of diversity illustrated by one lone model of color. We saw it as too much of a problem to call the agency and ask for models of color. We like better just to talk about the issue and sound really aware without acting on it.

Wouldn’t it have been radical if the Style editors had chosen to feature all models of color?