Vogue's Buzz

[image via baltomoresun]

By: Joseph Jordan

Lately, there has been a buzz in certain communities about LeBron James and Giselle Buchen gracing the cover of Vogues March issue. It has been stated that LeBron displays a Gorilla like pose(baring his teeth). Some have even took it as far as saying, "he depicts the image of a dangerous black man".

"What does a dangerous black man look like? "

LeBron is simply showing emotion. The exact emotion he would show playing offense in a game. Some feel black men are given a bad image on magazine covers, while the Caucasian male is always seen smiling or gleefully laughing.

I wonder how the community would have felt if; LeBron (African American), was replaced with Luc Longley (Caucasian); then Giselle (Brazilian), replaced with Tyra Banks (African American). Would people feel the same way? Would Longley be depicted as the modern day image of a dangerous white man? -and Tyra as a helpless woman.

What if LeBron and Giselle appeared on the cover of Vibe or Ebony? Would the "Gorilla" pose still be a problem? Would the magazines target markets make a difference?