(Credit: Essence, screenshot)
According to the Maynard Institute’s Richard Prince and Media Bistro, Essence magazine’s managing editor Michael Bullerdick posted “racist and extreme right wing posts” on Facebook. Prince reported that a reader tipped him off to the Facebook posts, which the institute then provided to Essence.
Bullerdick is a white man, according to Prince. Essence identifies itself as “the premiere lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women” and “where black women come first.”
Prince noted that Essence said Bullerdick had “no involvement in editorial content” but Bullerdick’s LinkedIn profile said otherwise. Also, Essence originally backed Bullerdick before saying “by mutual agreement” Bullerdick would change jobs. Because of the incident, Essence moved Bullerdick to “the book division of Time Warner,” Essence‘s parent company.
Prince added that Essence is in the process of creating a social media policy.
We wrote in 2010 about the responses and questions prompted by Essence‘s hiring of a white fashion editor.
