A British beauty magazine that bills itself as "The Black Woman's Style Bible" say it inadvertently put a white woman on the cover of the latest issue.
The model, Emily Bador, pointed out the error in an Instagram post. She apologized for the mix-up. Bador's statement was actually quite impressive. She laid out the issues with her occupying a space that should have been one of few reserved exclusively for Black women.
“I hold up my hands,” Bador wrote. “I’m so so so sorry and I’m very sorry this cover was taken away from a black woman.”
Bador is wearing a kinky hair style and says the photo was taken years ago when she was "uneducated" about the struggles Black women face.
"Growing up in a very very white city, I had no idea the struggles black women face and how often they were persecuted for their hair," she explained. "I didn't understand how black women are constantly told their natural hair is inappropriate/unprofessional for the work place, or how young girls are told they can't go to school with natural hair."
Now, of course, the real question is how did the publishers of the magazine let this happen. Editor Keysha Davis issued a short statement on the mistake via Instagram.
Dear Readers/Supporters
It was recently brought to our attention that the model gracing our December/January issue is not of black or mixed-race heritage. We were obviously not aware of this prior to selecting the image. We often ask PR companies/salons to submit images for the magazine, specifically stating that models must be Black or mixed race. We can only take their word for it, and of course, try to use our own judgment.
At Blackhair we continuously strive to celebrate black women in all our beautiful variation of skin hues and hair textures. We are only too aware of how black women are underrepresented in the mainstream media and the last thing we want to do is add to our erasure. In this ever-changing world, race will surely become even more fluid and no doubt conversations around black identity will continue to change, and we definitely welcome the dialogue.
Mistakes happen, but we can't help but think about how colorism contributes to these kinds of issues. Too often ambiguously Black women are used to represent Black womanhood. Perhaps this is a lesson to go with a darker-skinned model whose Blackness is less often celebrated.
