--- title: Blackhair Magazine Puts White Model On its Cover description: A white model wrote a poignant post about white privilege and cultural appropriation after being featured on the cover of a black beauty mag. canonical: https://time.com/4581381/blackhair-magazine-white-model/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-23T16:27:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:57.512Z og:title: A Black Beauty Magazine Unwittingly Put a White Model on Its Cover og:description: 'I didn't understand cultural appropriation' og:url: https://time.com/4581381/blackhair-magazine-white-model/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa5d1ca281863c3/6988afa1a988ca69306ba44c/black-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: black-hair og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Black Beauty Magazine Unwittingly Put a White Model on Its Cover twitter:description: 'I didn't understand cultural appropriation' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa5d1ca281863c3/6988afa1a988ca69306ba44c/black-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Black Beauty Magazine Unwittingly Put a White Model on Its Cover > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e4a2187c-f880-4ed7-b22a-b69527bde56e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Nov 23, 2016 4:27 PM UTC   by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Nov 23, 2016 4:27 PM UTC A white model wrote a poignant post about white privilege and cultural appropriation after being featured on the cover of British magazine focused on black beauty, [the Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/23/black-u-k-beauty-magazine-accidentally-put-a-white-model-on-its-cover-apologies-followed/?hpid=hp%5Fhp-morning-mix%5Fmm-model%3Ahomepage%2Fstory). [_Blackhair Magazine_](http://blackhairmagazine.co.uk/), a bimonthly magazine focused on black women’s beauty and style, usually features black or mix-raced models on its covers, according to the _Post_. But for the magazine’s December/January cover, editors chose a picture of white model Emily Bador. Readers weren’t happy with the choice, especially considering [the fashion industry’s historical lack of representation](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/fashion/fashions-racial-divide.html) of black women. > [](https://twitter.com/Sistas2Sisters/status/801133940329172992) > [](https://twitter.com/ToWednesday/status/801168771922526208) Bador wrote a poignant Instagram post, apologizing to anyone who may have been offended by the cover. “I believe this shoot is from when I was around 15 and didn’t understand cultural appropriation or the impact it has on POC. I was uneducated, which obviously is no excuse, ignorant and immature,” Bador wrote. “Growing up in a very very white city, I had no idea the struggles black women face and how often they were persecuted for their hair. I didn’t understand how black women are constantly told their natural hair is inappropriate/unprofessional for the work place, or how young girls are told they can’t go to school with natural hair.” “I didn’t understand that as a white passing woman I’d be praised for this hair, but if I was a black woman I’d be persecuted. I didn’t understand cultural appropriation,” she added. In a Facebook post on Monday, _Blackhair_‘s editor Keysha Davis also apologized for the cover. She said that the editors weren’t aware that Bador was white, and that they use images provided by public relations companies or salons. “We are keenly aware of how black women are underrepresented in the mainstream media and the last thing we want to do is add to our erasure,” Davis wrote. “In this ever-changing world, race will surely become even more fluid and no doubt conversations around Black identity will continue to change, and we definitely welcome the dialogue.” \[[The Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/23/black-u-k-beauty-magazine-accidentally-put-a-white-model-on-its-cover-apologies-followed/?hpid=hp%5Fhp-morning-mix%5Fmm-model%3Ahomepage%2Fstory)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4581381/blackhair-magazine-white-model/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4581381/blackhair-magazine-white-model/"},"headline":"A Black Beauty Magazine Unwittingly Put a White Model on Its Cover","datePublished":"2016-11-23T16:27:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:57.512Z","description":"'I didn't understand cultural appropriation'","url":"https://time.com/4581381/blackhair-magazine-white-model/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa5d1ca281863c3/6988afa1a988ca69306ba44c/black-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltafa5d1ca281863c3/6988afa1a988ca69306ba44c/black-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"black-hair","caption":"","creditText":"","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/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4581381/blackhair-magazine-white-model/","name":"A Black Beauty Magazine Unwittingly Put a White Model on Its Cover"}}]}] ```