there s so few opportunities for african-american women in fashion that for essence to not hire an african-american woman is inappropriate. her critics say it s essentially reverse racism. the woman who used to hold that job joins us, makala. you wouldn t argue a white fashion magazine should hire a white fashion director. why is it okay to argue that a black fashion magazine should hire a black director? i don t know of any woman s magazine that says it s a white fashion magazine. vogue does not say that. they say they re there for luxury, elitism or a class. essence is the one magazine in that kiosk that puts race in their brand. they say this is the place for african-american women, the place where black women come first. so, black is in their brand dna.
the constitutionality of this law. the law goes into effect, have 12 by 12 provision, four or five of them have now been put on hold or blocked. jeff, thanks. let us know what you think. the live chat is up and running, ac360.com. up next, we continue on immigration. you ve all heard the argument that illegal immigrants are doing jobs that many americans won t. is that really true? we asked gary tuchman to do one of those jobs, picking grapes in the fields of california. what he found may surprise you. later, essence magazine, major lifestyle magazine aimed at african-americans hires a white fashion director and some are calling foul, including a former employee of the magazine. is it reverse racism, though? two sides square off.
up next, we continue on immigration. you ve all heard the argument that illegal immigrants are doing jobs that many americans won t. is that really true? we asked gary tuchman to do one of those jobs, picking grapes in the fields of california. what he found may surprise you. later, essence magazine, major lifestyle magazine aimed at african-americans hires a white fashion director and some are calling foul, including a former employee of the magazine. is it reversed racism, though? [trumpet playing reveille throughout]
claire, we could go on and on, they don t say that. that s marketing. it s a promise to a leader, a poms to an audience. no other magazine vogue doesn t say they re white. they re not a white magazine. however, all those titles that i have said don t there s not one fashion director that would it be okay for i don t know what the stats for town & country magazine, but that used to be a magazine geared toward like new york society, which is probably overwhelmingly white. would it be okay for town and country to say we ve done surveys and our readers are white. we only want a white director. you would say that s outrageous. no, i wouldn t. i haven t said that. that s something that s implied. this is saying when you say that you are the one magazine that is there to reflect and celebrate the african-american woman through the very specific filter of the african-american woman experience, you put race in you put race in your
you need to hire some people. magazines looked up and said, whoa, where are the black people? and they realized, wow, we don t have any. his stance changed the industry. you have to have more ofgob tha. i can t say i want to deny a white person opportunity but i don t want to see an african-american denied an opportunity. they should be held accountable to have the staff and, unfortunately they do not. to that point spike lee is a very good example. he ushered in a lot of people who would not be in the film industry, would not get credentials, had it not been for him. true. essence was that gateway. i became an editor at essence. so then i went on to contribute to vanity fair, i ve had a very rich career where i had hired people of all color. when you were at honey magazine, i m told you hired a white person to be an art director. yes. honey is an urban magazine. it does not say black. it reflects urban aesthetics and urban and hip-hop aesthetics.