Did Meghan Markle Show Bias Against White Women?

How does one show bias against white women? This writer claims that Meghan Markle did so on choosing the women to feature on one of the most influential editions of a fashion magazine she edited.

Journalist Camilla Tominey hit the Duchess of Sussex, guest editor of British Vogue’s September 2019 Issue, for allegedly showing bias against white women in choosing the 15 women featured under the theme “forces for change."

"I wonder whether Meghan was conscious of the bias she showed in choosing 15 ‘forces for change’ for the Vogue cover, all of whom were women, of which only five were white?" The Telegraph wrote in a Twitter post promoting Tominey’s article.

In her guest-edited issue, Markle had chosen to feature the following influential women on the cover comprised of actresses, models, activists and politicians: fashion activist Adwoa Aboah, South Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie, American model Christy Turlington, ballerina Francesca Heyward, feminism activist Gemma Chan, climate striker Greta Thunberg, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, actress Jameela Jamil, political activist Jane Fonda, LGBTQ advocate Laverne Cox, Somali boxer Ramla Ali, women and children advocate Salma Hayek, disability advocate Sinead Burke and model Yara Shahidi.

As Tominey claimed, only five of the featured women are white: Ardern, Burke, Turlington, Thunberg and Fonda.

Fans and concerned Twitter users quickly responded to slam Tominey on throwing a “tantrum” in an era of diversity of inclusivity.

“It’s almost comical, the way a certain diabolical kind of white woman throws a public tantrum the second whiteness isn’t explicitly [centered] and [prioritized],” said Siter Outrider in a tweet.

Some genuinely asked about Tominey’s criteria in white women representation.

“ Hi, question for Camilla here - how many white women would have been acceptable for Meghan to have chosen?” asked Mollie Goodfellow in a tweet.

The comment by Tominey was reportedly made in reference to Prince Harry’s remarks about “unconscious bias” in calling people out on making racist remarks and receiving a response that they’re not racist.

“I’m not saying that you’re a racist, I’m just saying that your unconscious bias is proving that, because of the way that you’ve been brought up, the environment you’ve been brought up in, suggests that you have this point of view—unconscious point of view—where naturally you will look at someone in a different way,” Harry told anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall as he interviewed the legendary ethologist for the same Vogue issue.