The appointment of Alexander Wang as creative director of fashion house Balenciaga has been greeted with skepticism, according to a blog by Cornell University Professor Minh-Ha T. Pham for the Huffington Post.
Wrote Pham: “The general perception was that the job offer had more to do with his being Chinese than his talent.”
Some speculated he was appointed for his ties to China as Balenciaga tries to expand its market there. Another report circulated that the former editor and chief of Vogue Paris and long time supporter of Wang would be brought in as a stylist at Balenciaga, thus fueling more rumors that Wang’s appointment had less to do with talent and business skills and more about “connections.”
“Tying Asian-Americans to Asia as a way of casting aspersions on their rights to jobs has long been a way of tacitly suggesting that Asian-Americans are not “real Americans,” and so are less entitled to jobs that do not rightfully belong to them,” wrote Pham.
Have you seen this happen to people in color at your work place. What do you think?
