--- title: Ashley Graham on White Privilege and Success as a Model description: Ashley Graham shared that she's well-aware that her white privilege has helped make her career more successful than some of her peers. canonical: https://time.com/4890516/ashley-graham-on-white-privilege/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-07T20:33:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:12.475Z og:title: Ashley Graham Says White Privilege Has Helped Her Career og:description: "To not see black or Latina women as famous in my industry is crazy!" og:url: https://time.com/4890516/ashley-graham-on-white-privilege/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d9b613985c00ebb/6988d8b8656a3f64e8bd127d/ashley-graham-white-privilege.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Build Presents Ashley Graham Discussing Her New Show "The Ashley Graham Project" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ashley Graham Says White Privilege Has Helped Her Career twitter:description: "To not see black or Latina women as famous in my industry is crazy!" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d9b613985c00ebb/6988d8b8656a3f64e8bd127d/ashley-graham-white-privilege.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Model Ashley Graham 'I Know I’m on This Pedestal Because of White Privilege'  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 7, 2017 8:33 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - JULY 26: Model Ashley Graham discusses her new show "The Ashley Graham Project" at Build Studio on July 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - JULY 26: Model Ashley Graham discusses her new show "The Ashley Graham Project" at Build Studio on July 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images)Matthew Eisman—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 7, 2017 8:33 PM UTC Groundbreaking model and member of 2017’s [_TIME_ 100 honoree Ashley Graham ](http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4736242/ashley-graham/)has had the kind of success in her career that most models only dream of. [She’s graced the covers of magazines like ](http://motto.time.com/4666150/ashley-graham-vogue-backlash-response/)_Vogue_ and _Sports Illustrated_ and walked runways for designers like [Christian Siriano](http://time.com/4725373/christian-siriano-interview/) and Michael Kors; however, Graham is quick to acknowledge that [her success as a curvy model in the body conscious fashion industry](http://motto.time.com/4589014/ashley-graham-vogue-cover/) has been influenced by her privilege as a white woman. In an interview with [_New York Magazine_](https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/ashley-graham-supermodel.html)_,_ Graham spoke about a conversation she’s had with her husband, cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Justin Ervin, who’s black; Graham explains that they’ve discussed that as a white woman, she’s often afforded opportunities and visibility that other models who are women of color have not been given. “I know I’m on this pedestal because of white privilege,” she said. “To not see black or Latina women as famous in my industry is crazy! I have to talk about it. I want to give those women kudos because they are the ones who paved the way for me.” Later in the interview, Graham namechecks other curve models who are women of color (Marquita Pring, Precious Lee, and Julie Henderson) and expressed her desire to broaden the horizons for all curvy women in the industry. “I’m getting a seat at the table we’ve never had before, and I’m also pulling up a couple of seats around me,” she said. “I know this isn’t about me. Just one girl is not going to change the world.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4890516/ashley-graham-on-white-privilege/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4890516/ashley-graham-on-white-privilege/"},"headline":"Model Ashley Graham 'I Know I’m on This Pedestal Because of White Privilege'","datePublished":"2017-08-07T20:33:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:12.475Z","description":"\"To not see black or Latina women as famous in my industry is crazy!\"","url":"https://time.com/4890516/ashley-graham-on-white-privilege/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","fashion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d9b613985c00ebb/6988d8b8656a3f64e8bd127d/ashley-graham-white-privilege.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d9b613985c00ebb/6988d8b8656a3f64e8bd127d/ashley-graham-white-privilege.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Build Presents Ashley Graham Discussing Her New Show \"The Ashley Graham Project\"","caption":"Build Presents Ashley Graham Discussing Her New Show \"The Ashley Graham Project\"","creditText":"Matthew Eisman—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4890516/ashley-graham-on-white-privilege/","name":"Model Ashley Graham 'I Know I’m on This Pedestal Because of White Privilege'"}}]}] ```