Please, No Dark Skinned Models Need Apply

A former agent of supermodel Naomi Campbell gives a frank assessment of the color prejudice against using dark skin black models in the fashion industry. An article titled, "Is The Fashion Industry Racist? Yes -- And It Goes Right To Its Core," by Liz Jones in the Daily Mail June 13, 2011 gets to the root of the issue.

The age old issue of skin color runs deep in the fashion industry. This is something that deserves to be elevated to the broader public. World wide black people spend plenty buying the designer labels from fashion houses that don't want dark skin models showcasing their clothes. I would hope that some high profile stars pick up the microphone on this and put the fashion industry on blast. We get upset about a Pepsi ad run during the Super Bowl that could be interpreted one way or another regarding the image of black women, but this is in your face from those in the fashion industry.

Some may scoff at what my seem to be a business preference, but in reality it gets to a basic definition of what is presented as normal, beautiful and acceptable as standards in society. This may seem like far less noble of an issue to pursue than the right to vote, eat at a public lunch counter or right to equal education, but is it really?

The fashion industry has a worldwide reach and projects a global view at the cutting edge of what is coming next. If what is coming next is rarely view adorning the body of people of a certain skin tone, then what does that say about them? It says that they don't matter. If they don't matter, then their dollars should not matter.

Whitest Cities Try To Attract Minorities

Marin County California has 7 of the whitest cites in the Bay Area and they have new plans to attract minorities.

An article titled “The 10 Whitest Cities in the Bay Area” by Aaron Glantz March 24, 2011 and published in the Bay Citizen details the issue. Not only are there few minorities in Marin County, it has been charged with failure to comply with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other anti-discrimination laws.

A situation like this should not come as a surprise to most people in the United States as there are highly segregated areas all over the nation. There real issue is why these areas are segregated, by choice or by design. An area segregated by choice simply means that a certain racial or ethnic group became the majority population by choice and not by excluding other groups intentionally.

Segregation by design means that barriers were erected to exclude other races intentionally and that seems to be the case in Marin County as realtors and landlords were also mentioned as needing to curb discriminatory practices. It also seems that less than mandated affordable multifamily housing was built to restrict the number of lower income residents that could move into the county. In effect Marine County, California is under a housing version of forced busing to introduce diversity into the communities.

Washington DC No Longer African American Majority Population

 White House

Times and demographics have changed as Washington DC no longer has an African American majority living in the city. According to just released census data the non-Hispanic white and Hispanic population now makes up 50 percent of the population.

The appeal of life in Washington DC has simply resulted in changes that have pushed many lower income residents outside of the city. In other words the cost of living has risen as areas underwent changes to attract resident that enjoyed the close in and walking based lifestyle. In what is generally known as gentrification as lower income neighborhoods undergo renovation and increases in rent and sales prices, the former low income residents simply move out. In the case of Washington DC, many of those displaced low income residents are African American as their population decreased by 11.1% since 2000 while whites increased by 31.4% over the same period. With Hispanic blacks added to the number the total black population is 50.7%. An article titled “In D.C., blacks are no longer the majority” by Oren Dorell March 25, 2011 and published in USA Today breaks down the census figures.

This type of shift is not a surprise and is taking place in many areas of the United States as the shift from the suburbs to central city living is being driven by many factors including fuel prices and traffic congestion. It is just ironic for Washington DC to lose its status as a majority African American city with the first black President occupying the White House.