What is a white company? AmsterdamNews.com is taking Time Inc. to task
for its handling of Essence & Suede Magazines, two properties the
company recently put on hiatus. According
to correspondent Makebra Anderson, “When White companies purchase Black-owned
businesses, everyone says African-Americans have nothing to worry
about. If the takeover of Essence Communications by media giant Time,
Inc. is any indication, those assurances are made to ease the
transition.”
I have no quarrel with the writer’s point-of-view nor do I
think the issues raised are not valid ones to consider. However, I’m
struck by that “white company” label for Time Inc.
It is a
publicly-traded company, thus anyone of any race can own its shares.
What’s more, its chairman and chief executive officer, Richard Parsons,
is an African American who is one of the most powerful business
executives in the nation.
Perhaps Time Inc. was misguided in its
decisions related to Essence and Suede, but is that because it’s a
“white” company?
