What is wrong with this picture? When are the
wanksters at Vanity Fair going to learn??? Yeah yeah, we noticed that “at least” you included some black folks this year, but we’re not stupid. That cover folds up, tucking our black beauties Paula Patton and Adepero Oduye (who won raves from critics for her role in the indie film “Pariah”) out of sight and out of mind.
We still haven’t gotten over the sting of 2010, when blacks were shut out completely. The magazine was ripped apart when that happened, and last year they tried to rectify the situation by putting Anthony Mackie and Rashida Jones on the cover. But they two were tucked away, marginalized between the inside margins.
Zoe Saldana and America Ferrara were run off their front cover in 2008
In 2005 they discriminated against multiple races by sending Kerry Washington, Ziyi Zhang and Rosario Dawson on the inside cover.
Who would be dumb enough to hide Salma Hayek’s puppies? Vanity Fair, that’s who. The magazine banished the Latina beauty and Lucy Liu to the dreaded right corner of the cover in 2004.
Rosario also got the right side cover treatment back in 2002.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez might sell covers now, but apparently Vanity Fair didn’t think they could back in 1997.
And apparently Will Smith wasn’t quite in Leonardo DiCaprio’s league in 1996.
Angela Bassett held it down for the inside cover in 1995.
And here’s the evidence that Vanity Fair is fully capable of putting a black Hollywood actor on their cover. We may as well applaud them for the few times they did the right thing. Djimon Hounsou made the cut in 1998.
Thandie Newton won the honor in 1999
And Chris Rock rocked it out in 2007.
Still… We’re waiting for the day when VF will choose more than two people of color for their Hollywood issue AND show them prominently displayed. Actually scratch the WAITING part. We’re demanding it.
