The Lebron/Vogue Scandal - Ten Reasons Why Vogue Isn’t Racist

So the Lebron James Vogue cover with Gisele Bundchen is finally getting the attention of traditional media. We wrote about it last week , saying that what really offended us was the shitty fashion on the cover, and now that we bloggers have been talking about it for a while, the rest of the media people seem to be caring, big surprise.

Anyways after hearing all the opinions and listening to person after person make comments about how “racist” Vogue is I heard one rational thought that made me reassess my opinion.

Would It Be Different If The Cover Featured A White Man Instead of Lebron James?

Suddenly, the voice of Martin Luther King entered my ears speaking words of a day when equality would bring forth truth and I quickly realized that this cover IS NOT RACIST AT ALL!!!

I know, a shocking thought that a media empire run by white folks could actually do something that wasn’t racist in nature is unheard of, but in this case I think Vogue was honestly not trying to offend.

To prove it we had our photoshopping experts reassess the cover and add the photo of a white person. And not just any white person, we used a photo of Stuff White People Like’s Christian Lander. Suddenly the cover isn’t so offensive, but instead a bit comical.

So in the future, when considering racism, we should all ask the question, “Would it still be offensive to white people if a white person was in it?”. Most of the time the answer will be no. Want more proof that Vogue isn’t on a racist trip check out our Ten Reasons Why Vogue Isn’t Racist list…

1. Black as night, Andre Leon Tally may be as fat as a Volkswagon Beetle but the dude still remains Numero 2 at image conscience Vogue. Affirmative action? No, the dude really knows what he’s doing and is one of the most respected names in fashion and at Conde Nast.

2. The whole black man/white woman scenario doesn’t fly when you consider the fact that Gisele is hispanical. That’s right kiddies, this cover is the best example of minority representation by the magazine, ever.

3. Lebron is a basketball player. He’s pictured for doing what he’s known for. What’s wrong with that?

4. If it was a white dude no one would freak out (as pictured above). Can we say double standard? I think we can.

5. No look of fear on Gisele’s face might imply she’s actually having fun. Gasp, whites (hispanicals) and blacks getting along!!! Not possible according to all the haters out there.

6. It’s the Shape Issue people. We need to see some muscle and what better way than showing some serious MUSCLE. Lebron looks like he can run through a wall in this photo and I think that’s the point. The image is of a strong, successful BLACK MAN!!! What’s so racist about that?

7. In fashion black is always in (can’t believe I just wrote that)

8. Comparing Lebron to King Kong is just offensive. I’m sure the people who said this are either a) really, secretly racist themselves since gorilla is the first thing that comes to mind when seeing a black man, b) black and ashamed of themselves, or c) really into monkey sex.

9. Notice how Lebron isn’t complaining. He was there, at the photoshot. I’m sure he had some choice in the photo that would be used. And if I was Lebron, I would choose the photo that made me seem most powerful, like the one Vogue used on the cover.

10. Vogue Men has featured three powerful black men in the past - Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Barack Obama. Shouldn’t that suggest that maybe, just maybe, Conde Nast does respect black men?

For those of you that still feel that Vogue is being racist, quit your bitching and take action. You don’t have to buy the magazine, you can demand that more African American’s make it on the cover, and you can bring about positive change. The civil rights leaders of the past didn’t change things by bitchin, they took action.

Just remember that when the day comes that Vogue does properly representing blacks on it’s cover (to me, they’ve already made positive steps) that it is your job as a people to drop your issues of Essence and Jet and get on the Vogue bandwagon. If you don’t, well, then you’re just haters.

Which reminds me, why isn’t anyone complaining about Essence and Jet and the dozens of other black centric magazines? Last time I checked Whites, Hispanicals, Asians, and just about every other race except for African-American’s haven’t gotten much cover play on those glossies?

It’s about time that everyone takes a chill pill, gets off their civil rights high horse, and make a decision that not everything “white” media dishes out is offensive to black people.

Of course there are some exceptions….