A Black Female in This Industry?

I am not a woman of color, but I have observed blatant racism in this industry.

In this publishing house I worked at, we had two “token” black women in management positions. I can’t imagine how they felt. Also, if we put photos of black people in our publication, white managers would tell us they weren’t “black enough” or they were “too black.”

But I have seen black women rise in this industry. You have to work with the racism—I know that’s horrible to say. You have to understand that the upper management are from the ultra conservative generation. But the good news is that the generation behind them are the liberal generation from the late 70’s/80’s. These are the people who will look beyond color and notice your work and talent.

I believe that great things will happen for black women in this industry. Anyone that does not appreciate that is missing out on an incredible pool of talent.

I wish you all the best.

Poppy : )

Yeah, join the club :-/

I’m latina and I have never let it get in my way of breaking down the door to get into magazine publishing. The industry is ridiculously difficult to break into to begin with, but it’s even harder if you’re not just like everyone else.

I don’t think that I have ever been discriminated against in the workplace because of my ethnic background. I interned at a magazine publisher and even though I thought that the girls (all editors were female) liked me and everything, I still never felt like I was one of them. Oh well.

My main goal has been to freelance from home, so that kind of stuff doesn’t matter to me now. I maintained a freelance relationship with the above publisher so they must have liked me enough :)

I think it might be helpful if you try and track down some black female editors and writers you look up to (or other “minority” editors and writers of other ethnicities) and try to get an informational interview with them. (Have you ever heard of The Budget Fashionista, Kathryn Finney? She owns Simply Good Media. Maybe she’d be someone you can talk to!) Of course, don’t tell them that’s the reason why you chose to meet with them! You never know what opportunities may spring up. Just be glad you have a job in the industry right now — and a cut-throat one at that, in a HORRIBLE job market!

this Ed report? http://www.ed2010.com/2008/01/ed-s-look-magazine-diversity

I wish this weren’t true but it seems that it may be in many instances. Since I’m relatively new to the magazine industry my situations come mostly with internships. I had good writing experience before the internships I had; however it seemed that when I interviewed for more mainstream mags despite being professional, a good interviewee, well qualified I did not get the position but when interviewed for reputable and (competitive may I add)magazines geared to people of color I got the position. Not being paranoid but after a few experiences with this I did start to question if race was a factor in decision making. And I am not one who is a “conspiracy theorist” who always jumps to conclusions. However, when situations happen where it’s a weird(possibly biased) reaction I think the other users who posted were right to question the reasons. Even though you can’t specifically call racism unless it’s blatant letting them know you realized you were not treated fairly is what should be done.

I like others felt that my experience would speak for itself. I’m not saying race was solely the reason I did not get the other positions, nor am I trying to play the race card but it seems that discrimination still is a screening process in some circumstances. I think some companies may feel you may not relate to the core audience of the publication, even though there are many publications who do want a diverse staff to offer different perspectives and bring in people of different lifestyles.

There are many women and men of color who I can name who have succeeded at mainstream publications, but even they will tell you it often is a struggle(as it can be for anyone of any color). I understand being turned off in some cases but the success of people of all backgrounds in magazine industry should be inspirational stories of yes it can happen but you need to be aware “sometimes” and assumptions may be made of you before you even open your mouth but there are other publications or hirers who really won’t care what your race is.

It’s possible. Anything’s possible. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m a black female working in the industry who has interned and freelanced at a number of pubs before landing my first full-time gig not long ago. During some past interviews at well known mags, I noticed that I would be the only black person in their editorial dept, but that fact never seemed to affect the person interviewing me. I guess all you can do is be yourself, show some wit and humor, and make sure you vet those edit tests for crazy grammatical offenses (there’s some stuff going on in that rant that shouldn’t be. I’m just saying…) I think the industry is hospitable to all shades, but it’s a totally valid question that you’re raising. I wouldn’t be surprised if your theory applied in some cases. Just make sure you come to the table with everything tight on your end. And you don’t have to assume the entire industry in NYC is corrupt. There are plenty of pubs out there that don’t care if you’re black (and I’m talking more than King.)