To: Graydon Carter, Editor in Chief
Vanity Fair: Publish Diverse Faces!
As Vanity Fair readers, we ask Graydon Carter, Krista Smith and the editors who contribute to the yearly Vanity Fair Hollywood edition to provide equal visual representation among talented actors across racial lines.
Why is this important?
The Problem: It's almost cliche now that Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood Issue will feature white actors to the near-total exclusion of actors of color who are as busy and talented as their white colleagues.
Too often, actors of color-- and the important stories they tell-- are relegated to specialized or marginalized publications. Rather than segregating actors, we paying newsstand readers and subscribers would prefer to see and read about actors who are telling compelling, powerful stories-- which are sometimes not at the top of the box office returns-- no matter what race they are.
One Solution: Vanity Fair has an impressive stable of writers, photographers and editors. They are thinkers who have the ability to do more than pander to the masses, just as countless other publications do already. VF has a unique position and ability to elevate and challenge our cultural conversation. Therefore, we ask that they make an effort to do so, starting with that most powerful of impression-makers, the visual on the cover.