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British Vogue Editor-in-Chief Reveals Multiple Instances of Racial Profiling

Edward Enninful, the first Black editor-in-chief of the British edition of fashion magazine Vogue, has said he has been subjected to racial profiling more than once. The most recent instance was in July at Vogue owner Conde Nast’s London offices, when a security guard told him he had to use the loading bay to enter the building.

“As a Black man it’s not the first time I’ve been profiled, and it certainly won’t be the last,” Enninful told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “It wasn’t an isolated incident.”

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“Had I been younger I would have been so upset,” Enninful added. “I wouldn’t be able to say anything, but now I can talk about it. I’ve got the platform to speak about it and I don’t want this to happen to the next generation.”

Enninful was speaking ahead of the launch of British Vogue’s September edition, due Aug. 7, that has Black icons, soccer player and activist Marcus Rashford and model and support forum Gurls Talk founder Adwoah Aboah, on the cover. The issue features 40 additional social activists, and the cover was shot by Misan Harriman, the first Black photographer to shoot a British Vogue cover.

“I think what’s happening now in the world is a great thing because people are talking about subjects that they never did before,” Enninful told Amanpour in the interview, which will be broadcast on CNN. Referring to the direction British Vogue is taking, he said, “Every month we try to reflect what we see in the world out there.”

Enninful did not rule out the possibility of taking over from Anna Wintour as editor-in-chief of American Vogue, should she step down.

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