Gaultier Charm: Coco Rocha photographed by Nelson Simoneau for ELLE Quebec. May 2011.

Fashion has no color or race, so Essence Breaks "A PROMISE" to their fabulously ignorant readers. . .

From left : Michaela Angela Davis, Ellianna Placas, Angela Burt-Murray
Photo from left: Jerritt Clark/ Getty images, Patrick McMullan, Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Last week, the staff of Essence magazine found itself embroiled in a racially charged fracas over its recent appointment of Ellianna Placas, the black publication's first white fashion director. Essence editor-in-chief Angela Burt-Murray went on the record to defend the decision, noting Placas's myriad qualifications and wondering incredulously why readers were so outraged over this, and not, say, a story the mag ran about "sex trafficking of young black girls in urban communities." Read More