Jourdan Dunn has had her fair share of racism in the modeling industry, but much like Chanel Iman she refused to let it hold her back from achieving her dreams.
It’s embarrassing to think that we live in a nation where racism is still thriving right under our noses and nobody seems to be doing much about it.
Perhaps one of the most prevalent industries when it comes to racism and discrimination is the modeling and fashion industry and Jourdan Dunn has experienced it first hand.
Dunn looks stunning on the cover of The Edit magazine, but her interview inside is not as much of a pretty sight.
“There were times when Dunn would be on her way to castings and told to turn back because the client ‘didn’t want any more black girls,’” the article read. “There was even one instance when a makeup artist announced on a shoot that she didn’t want to make-up Dunn’s face because she herself was white and Dunn was black.”
To be clear, it wasn’t because she simply didn’t know how to do make up on black women. She simply insisted that she wanted nothing to do with helping makeup a black model.
No wonder Naomi Campbell was infuriated with “The Face” contestant Devyn for telling Wendy Williams that she doesn’t consider herself a “black model” because of her “fair” skin color.
Fortunately, the 22-year-old British model refused to let the industry’s racism bring her career to a halt.
She persevered through even the toughest times and most disgusting racist encounters and climbed her way to the top of the fashion food chain.
She didn’t do it on her own, however. She admitted that it’s with the support of close friends and mentors including W’s Edward Enninful and famed makeup artist Pat McGrath that she was able to conquer the obstacles in her way.
But even these fashion industry heavy weights didn’t impact her as much as an adorable 3-year-old boy.
Jourdan is a single mother of a handsome little boy named Riley who suffers from sickle-cell disease and that’s more than enough reason for her to keep fighting even when she feels weak.
“If ever I’m sad, I just have to remember, I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for him,” she said.
Dunn isn’t the only black model who broke her silence about the racism in the industry either.
Chanel Iman also recently told the Times of the troubles she faced being a black model in a predominantly white business.
“A few times I got excused by designers who told me, ‘We already found one black girl. We don’t need you any more,’” Chanel said. “I felt very discouraged.”
Chanel and Jourdan both faced times where they were discouraged, but they never let it defeat them. They are certain pioneers in the industry proving that regardless of the industry’s twisted standards, beauty comes in all races and nationalities.
