Anyone who has an internet connection has heard about the Cosmopolitan magazine scandal. What a lot of people might not realize is that this is not an isolated incident, but rather an example of the pervasive problem of subtle racism. Subtle or covert racism is racism that is disguised and appears hidden by societal norms. In this day and age, racism is no longer segregation and lynchings, rather, it’s taking subtle forms that you can see in the media.
The Cosmo scandal is just one example of this form of racism. Black women are only used to feature trends that “need to die”, while the “gorgeous” trends are worn exclusively by white women. In the aforementioned article one tweet explained the subtle racism perfectly by saying “you didn’t realize because it’s your norm!”
Another example is in the magazine above. Take a look at the cover. The story that takes up most of the space is Paula Dean’s “comeback” after some racist remarks she made were leaked. In the bottom left, the story shown there is about a fourteen-year-old charged with murder in 1944 in a trial that amounted to little more than a lynching.
The juxtaposition of these two articles shows complete insensitivity on the part of People Magazine. By putting a mug shot of a black child who was charged with murder next to Paula Dena, it’s almost as if the magazine is giving basis to her racist comments. This is not helped by the fact that there are no other black people on the cover.
United States Attorney General Eric Holder has spoken about the issue of subtle racism. He said how “outlandish remarks” are not the biggest problem in terms of racism in this country. Rather, “the greatest threats are more subtle”, and he’s right. And the media, with their influence over the population, need to stop spreading these ideas that make subtle racism okay. If it’s societal norms that disguise racism, then what does that say about our society?