In case you missed the news, Essence magazine, the 40 year old bible of black womanhood hired a white woman. Clutch your pearls! Breathe. Repeat.

Ellianna Placas is the mag’s new fashion director. The hiring move ignited a firestorm on the innawebs (including on our Facebook page), from readers to fashion insiders to those who had once worked for the magazine. In a nutshell, homegirls were pisssssssed! How could a non-black woman tell black women what to wear? Will she know how to dress a black woman’s body? Were any black fashionistas on the short list for the job? Does Essence have an obligation to always hire from within the minority community, particularly since publishing is such a hard field for us? Oh, and the questions went on and on…

Well, Fashionista.com went to the source: editor-in-chief of Essence, Angela Burt-Murray, to find out how Placas got the job. Here’s her emailed response:

“Our new fashion director, Ellianna Placas, is part of a growing fashion team at Essence. We are making a number of new hires in the coming months.

I understand that this issue has struck an emotional chord with our audience, however I selected Ellianna, who has been contributing to the magazine on a freelance basis for the last six months, because of her creativity, vision, the positive reader response to her work and her enthusiasm and respect for the audience and our brand.

We remain committed to celebrating the unique beauty and style of African-American women in Essence magazine and online at Essence.com.”

And there you have it. Burt-Murray also wrote a lengthy opinion piece for The Grio today where she deflected a bit and argued the things black people should be getting upset about (i.e.: poor education, sex trafficking young girls and health care disparities in the black community) largely go ignored. Point taken.

But, I doubt the furor over fashion will end with an email and an opinion piece. For starters, Essence seems to have fallen out of favor with some of its loyal fan base, particularly after the magazine featured Reggie Bush on its “Black Men, Love & Relationships” issue in February. Many readers drew the line at putting a celeb who (at the time) was dating a white woman. That issue ignited so much debate, Essence eventually pulled the comment thread from its website.

I can tell you (an informal survey, if you will), among my circle of friends, we’re not checkin’ for Essence much these days. Many of the topics in the magazine seem to repeat every few months. I mean, how many times can you tell me to “get my money right” or show me how to pin-up my natural? Perhaps, that very reason is exactly why it sounds like Burt-Murray is on a mission to clean house (or spruce it up a bit).

On one hand, as a black woman, I get why hiring a non-black director would seem like a slap in the face to the readership and those who have routinely been shut out of the upper echelon of publishing. But, also, as a media professional, I know that you have to hire smartly for your publication to survive. Placas has a lengthy resume that includes O: The Oprah Magazine and Us Weekly, so it would seem she knows her stuff! But, I sure don’t envy the environment she’s stepping into. Not for one minute. (BTW, I think June Ambrose would have killed it as fashion director)… Anyway…

Placas will make her debut as the new fashion director with the magazine’s 40th anniversary issue this September.

So, what’s your call? Are you upset with the decision to hire a non-black fashion director? Do you even still read Essence? Weigh-in down in our comments section.

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