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Well, this is a mess. Fashion magazine Cosmopolitan is under fire for an image gallery they published earlier this year which featured “21 Beauty Trends That Need To Die In 2015.” For the most part, the piece was typical Cosmo fluff, except for one disturbing detail: the photos of celebs and models used to display the trends that needed to “die,” versus the ones they thought were gorgeous, were blatantly divided by race.

Pitting Black stars against their White counterparts, the side by side images reportedly showed women of color rocking the trends they wanted to slaughter this year. Coincidence?

MUST READ: CHICK CHAT: It’s Our Fault The Fashion World Still Doesn’t Cast Black Models

The article’s resurgence has seen some serious backlash, which is probably why if you go to look at it now, you’ll see a big change in the photos. Now, most, if not all of the celebrities, are White. But many readers feel the images show an obvious bias against women of color.

It’s already rare that we see ourselves in mainstream fashion magazines and now that Cosmo wants to prominently feature us, it’s to let us know that we need to die.

Great.

Simply put, the fashion industry is where diversity goes to die and Cosmo’s careless display of casual racism is just one small testimony of how undervalued faces of color are, not only in fashion, but in the world at large.

And although beautiful Black women like Naomi Campbell, Nicki Minaj, Tyra Banks and Beyoncé have previously graced the cover of the mag, we all know it’s more about the celebrity power punch they pack rather than actual, real attempts at inclusion.

Cosmo has yet to release a statement on the matter. Perhaps the mag was simply trying to show diversity in the images, but regardless, it was a major fail.

What do you think? Is Cosmo racist or displaying diversity?

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Did Cosmo ‘Kill’ Black Celebrities & Call White Celebrities ‘Gorgeous’ On Purpose Or Nah?  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com