Anok Yai is speaking out after Carine Roitfeld shared “tone-deaf” comments about the Black Lives Matter movement.
If you didn’t see, Carine, who is the EIC of Harper’s Bazaar, posted an image of her embracing Anok at an event, and when replying to a comment said that “Anok is not a black woman, she is my friend.”
In a piece for O magazine, Anok opened up about the comments and called them “jarring”.
“A lot of people have asked what my reaction was to an insensitive post from a friend of mine on Instagram last week. Of course, it was jarring—and it was just one of many similar microaggressions I’ve experienced during my time in fashion,” Anok wrote. “But the bigger point I’d like to focus on is that the fashion industry needs to become educated…and fast.”
She goes on, “Yet the industry seems to be depending on the Black community at large to educate them about Black history—as if we’re obligated to do so.”
“Black models should not have to teach working professionals how to deal with our hair and skin day in and day out. Educate yourself and come prepared. It’s your job. The world is changing right before our very eyes, and we won’t be tolerant of intolerance any longer.”
After her comments last week, Carine issued an apology.
