Chief Editor At 'Bon Appetit' Resigns After Racially Insensitive Photo Surfaces

[brooklynite]

Last edited Wed Jun 10, 2020, 06:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: NPR

The editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit, Adam Rapoport, has stepped down after an undated photograph of him dressed in a racially insensitive costume surfaced, as well as accusations of discrimination and lack of inclusiveness at the magazine.

The photograph, posted on social media, shows Rapoport and his wife, Simone Shubuck, at a Halloween party wearing stereotypical costumes meant to portray Puerto Rican dress. The photo was reportedly first posted to Shubuck's Instagram feed but has since been taken down.

In the caption to the post, Shubuck calls Rapoport Papi and adds the word Boricua, a local name for a Puerto Rican that derives from the indigenous name of the island.

Rapoport, who was an editor at GQ before taking the top job at Bon Appétit in 2010, announced late Monday that he would step down, writing in an Instagram post that he was resigning "to reflect on the work that I need to do as a human being and allow Bon Appétit to get to a better place." Both GQ and Bon Appétit are Condé Nast publications.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/09/872697289/chief-editor-at-bon-app-tit-resigns-after-racially-offensive-photo-surfaces

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Link to tweet

[The Mouth]

1. Milk Street does a much better job of diversity

Christopher Kimball may look a bit like a quintessential Vermont geek, but they do an excellent job of respecting the culture and the recipes from all over the world, as much travelogue and even cultural anthropology as anything, but with really good food and seeming sensitivity to the culture that created it.

[IronLionZion]

2. Cool, I'll have to check them out

I'm always looking for good recipes

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Someday they'll quarantine

Father Guido Sarducci

I'm not saying it wouldn't be a bad thing. I never did see a lot of difference between racial stereotyping and ethnic stereotyping. The Irish potatoes in my ancestry would appreciate it too.

[Warpy]

4. That's supposed to be Puerto Rican?

Most I've known have dressed like everybody else around them. I find it hamfisted and silly but I don't see how it can be racist since Puerto Rico is an island, not a race, and I've known people across the human rainbow from there. I learned all my dirty Spanish from a nursing coworker who grew up in San Juan.

I don't think it's enough to destroy anyone's career over. I do think he needs to consult a professional when he plays dress-up, he's bad at it.

[yardwork]

5. You don't see how it's bigoted?

[Warpy]

6. I don't see how it's RACIST.

I can see that it's an incredibly bad attempt at something that should definitely have not been attempted.

Perhaps it's because I grew up before the "no tolerance" bullshit that got kids suspended from school for giving a classmate a much needed Midol. I just don't think this rises to the level of hyperventilating outrage.

[yardwork]

7. I disagree. We need to start calling out this racist crap.

[Warpy]

8. First you have to buy into racist crap

The only race is the human race and Puerto Ricans certainly don't qualify as a separate one, even in you believe in racist horseshit that tries to pigeonhole human beings according to color.

Destroying his career over this is a bit much. Ridicule would have done a better job.

[yardwork]

9. That straw man doesn't play anymore.

The old "I don't believe in the concept of race so that (insert bigoted behavior) can't be racist" isn't working as well anymore.

[Warpy]

10. Look up "straw man" sometime, it doesn't mean what you think.

But thanks for playing and goodbye.

[LanternWaste]

12. As you should look up "ignoratio elenchi"

Seems if one is going pretend logic, one should at least adhere to it themselves... even temporarily to avoid the appearance of holding others to a higher standard than you hold yourself to, regardless of the irrelevant petulance of 'thanks', 'playing' or even 'goodbye'

JFC.

[Codeine]

11. The headline is misleading

because in truth there are a host of racial problems at Bon Appetite. The full article is worth the read.

[Warpy]

13. Thanks, but I haven't considered them much since the early 80s

when you'd find those incredibly foul Giorgio scratch n sniff things that reeked when you simply turned that page into their magazine, usually right next to a recipe that used a lot of garlic.

The Giorgio things did seem to discourage clothes moths, but it was a draw between what smelled worse, those or paradichlorobenzene.

I know they were incredibly white back then. Mags like Bon Appetit don't change until their upper middle class buyers require them to. The Giorgio was only the last straw, I always found their stuff to be over elaborate to the point of being tortured.

Clearly, I have the soul of a cabbage.