Esquire accused of racism because of the story of the life of an ordinary white guy in the US

12 February, the American edition of Esquire magazine introduced the cover and main article of the new issue. The theme of the issue was a material called "American Boy". Journalists, using the example of an 17-year-old teenager from Wisconsin, told how it is to “grow up as a white middle-class man in the era of social networks, school shooting, toxic masculinity, movement #MeToo and a divided country. "

Фото: Depositphotos

The story of a teenager who has become harder to live without belonging to minorities has caused criticism in social networks and the media. The magazine was convicted of choosing a hero with “white privileges” as an image of the average American high school student. The situation was aggravated by the time of the issue - in the Black History Month, writes TJ.

What is Esquire stuff about

Esquire Material dedicated to Ryan Morgan, a high school student from a small West Bend town in Wisconsin. Ryan is an ordinary white guy (almost 90% of the state’s population is white) from a middle-class family who likes to play video games and spend time with his girlfriend. Sometimes he goes hunting. A teenager does not have big problems in life, but he is sure: his life is much more complicated than people think at the mention of the “white privileged society”.

Morgan faced the first problems concerning his status back in 15 years before the US presidential elections. Then the whole school was divided into groups according to political views. And Ryan, whose family supported Trump, remained in the minority.

“Does everyone hate me just because of Trump? I could not even debate with someone - they stopped me and called me names, ”the hero of the material recalled.

By 17, Morgan’s political views became more moderate, but because of his status as a “white heterosexual guy,” he allegedly became an outcast on social networks. Ryan could not speak on any topic without being criticized by minorities, and this puzzled him: "I know what I cannot say or do in society, but I do not know what I can."

“One day a feminist wrote something on Instagram about how men supposedly act. I replied: “That’s not true, and it’s stupid to say that about guys.” And the girl wrote back: “What can you say, you’re a white man.” Isn't she for equality? What if I wrote the same thing, but about women? But no, feminists hate it when white guys talk about stuff like that. They probably think that since I’m not a girl, I shouldn’t have an opinion,” said Ryan Morgan.

The same problems with a teenager appear when it comes to social networks about other races or LGBT. Morgan supports same-sex marriage, but against abortion. He is for the same salary for men and women, but against layoffs James Gunn for the old tweets. He has to constantly think about his words, because at any moment you can hear "yes you are just a white guy."

The reaction of the media and social networks

The Esquire number with Morgan on the cover came out in February, which in North America is considered the “Black History Month”. At this time, memorable and historical events are held in the United States and Canada to combat racism in society.

In social networks and the media, they condemned that Esquire journalists chose the white guy who does not represent any minority as the portrait of an American teenager.

“In the history of the United States there have already been many stories about white people. Why do we need another such story in 2019? ”, - noted in the Huffington Post.

In some tweets of Morgan even compared with teenagers shooting the US schools. At the same time, Ryan emphasized that he had never wanted to become a hero of “shooting”.

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Twitter screenshot

Editorial position of the journal

To protect the material got up Esquire chief editor Jay Fielden. According to him, the task of the material was not to show “white privileges”, but the views of different teenagers on the problems of the United States. One of them, according to Filden, is disunity: with the help of the Internet, people protect themselves with “convenient” accounts and channels that reflect their point of view.

Esquire's editor-in-chief stated that the magazine will deal with this separation through a cycle of materials. The story of Ryan was the first article of the cycle - followed by materials about the problems of growing up girls, African Americans and LGBT people.

Esquire article writer Jennifer Persi said Olga,that the message of the story is "misinterpreted."

“The article shows how much more work we have to do in order to teach boys how to properly manage inherited privileges. At the same time, I was not engaged in the choice of the cover and the text on it, so I think that it incorrectly reflects the essence of the material, ”she said.

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