White = Everyone?

Ok this has been mentioned in class a few times, so I wanted to check it out for myself. Kevin presented the idea that on a magazine cover if the story is about people in general (as in all ethnicities) the image is usually of a white person. For example, if the cover story is about how people (as in all Americans) are making an effort to go "green" by doing things like buying reusable grocery bags, then the cover will feature a white man or woman- who represents Americans, in general. If the cover features a Latino or another minority than one assumes that the story is about that particular ethnicity only. True?

Well I went to Time.com to check this out. And lo and behold it IS true. Here are some examples. I typed the cover title and description below in case you can't read it.

The Case for National Service: Millions of Americans want to help their community, their country, their world. Here's a plan to put those ideals into action.

The Genius Problem: It doesn't take an Einstein to see that our schools are failing our smartest kids. Here's how to raise their grade.

The Abortion Campaign You Never Hear About: Crisis pregnancy centers are working to win over one woman at a time. But are they playing fair?

India Inc.: Why the world's biggest democracy is the next great economic superpower- and what it means for America.

Here you will see that the young, white female represents "Americans". The little white boy represents not just "our kids", but "our smartest kids". And the hand holding clay model of fetuses represents pregnancy centers and women. I struggled to find a cover featuring a photo of a minority (and I excluded all the covers- white or minority that featured a specific person due to an article about that person). As you see, the photo of posted is of an Indian woman and guess what, the story is about India. Not Indian-Americans. Not Americans, in general.

I find this fascinating. Honestly, it is something I've never thought about before, but I am wondering how did I never notice this? And yes, don't worry. I realize there are exceptions to this norm, but really it is a crazy trend. I wonder if as the U.S. continues to be more diverse and the demographics continue to change this trend will change too? I guess we will just have to wait and see! :)

All images from http://www.time.com/time/searchresults?N=46