OUT & ABOUT: Still Searching For That Good Black Writer….

In case you’ve been under a rock somewhere, the folks at Philadelphia magazine have published a piece called “Being White In Philly” in which reporter Robert Huber tells the story of how intimidated white folks are when it comes to talking about race here in the city by taking a tour of Fairmount, yet another neighborhood here in Philly that’s slowly being gentrified right out of reach for most of us.

Apparently, white folks are under the impression that expressing their true feelings on the topic will result in their being branded racists, being misinterpreted, or worse yet, meeting with physical harm.

Obviously, they’ve never spent one moment on Philly.com.

Because we must pay a visit to what I call Philadelphia magazine Fight Club every couple of years (or months, it depends), it stood to reason that we’d have not one, but two nights of discussion on “Being White in Philly”. One happened at the National Constitution Center, the other with the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists at the Philadelphia Inquirer/Philadelphia Daily News building.

Both were kind of instructive….in a way.

The first thing that struck me was how wide the gap was between what Huber wanted to write and what actually came out of his computer.

He claimed he didn’t want to write an article that, as he put it, opened the door for whites to say some really mean things about Blacks. He wanted to start a conversation about the income inequalities that are in some cases as close as a block away in some of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, Huber said.

Now if he had done that, the two nights I spent hearing about this story could have been spent in another way. That story wouldn’t have ticked anyone off and might even have started some serious policy discussions. Unfortunately, that’s not the story he wrote.

The second thing that struck me was that Philadelphia magazine might need to hire some new folks in their human-resources department.

You see, the magazine has no staffers of color, at least on the editorial side. When asked about that, McGrath gave an answer that I’ve heard far too many times in my career when news managers get asked this question: We can’t find anybody.

So let’s take a look at some of the journalists he said this in front of over the two nights of the “Being White in Philly” discussion:

•Award-winning former Inquirer columnist Annette John-Hall;

•Daily News reporter Regina Medina, also an award winner;

•Daily News columnist Jenice Armstrong;

•Award-winning author, columnist (and former Philadelphia magazine Solomon Jones;

•Award-winning Philadelphia Tribune reporter Bobbi Booker;

•Award-winning Philadelphia Sun sports columnist Chris Murray;

•And, of course, me.

So you might want to rethink your answer, Mr. McGrath, because even Stevie Wonder could make at least one or two hires among this group.

But the main thing that struck me is Philadelphia magazine is a lot like the Republican Party in a way. For a long time, the Republicans were able to win elections without appealing to people of color.

And then they couldn’t anymore because demographics changed. But instead of trying to work within these new demographics, they’ve spent an inordinate amount of time trying to negate said demographics.

While Philadelphia magazine currently able to thrive with its current readership demographic, what it needs to understand is that this time, Black folks weren’t the only ones that got mad about their annual racist story about racism.

This time, white folks got mad too. And that’s because the white folks who are moving into Philly are different from the ones that have been here awhile.

And they’re only going to continue reading your glossy for so long if you keep doing this kind of reporting.

   Send article as PDF