FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Kayla Keller, kayla@fitzgibbonmedia.com, 281 682 6212

**VIEW PETITION HERE: http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/shondarhimes/**

New York, NY — After widespread public outcry — including a ColorOfChange.org campaign that garnered the signatures of over 45,000 of its members — Alessandra Stanley and some editors at the New York Times have finally expressed remorse for the publication of an outrageous op-ed calling TV writer and producer, Shonda Rhimes, and her many complex Black women heroines “angry Black women” and judging their adherence to white standards of beauty.

However, the New York Times must take substantive steps to correct the deeply flawed editing process that allowed this highly offensive piece to hit newsstands.

Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org, said, “According to the New York Times Public Editor, Margaret Sullivan, the Times has zero Black critics on staff. Perhaps that explains in part why Alessandra Stanley’s tone deaf op-ed was reviewed by multiple editors before somehow receiving approval. Did none of them find anything at all wrong with Stanley’s hurtful words?

“Clearly the New York Times has a problem. Culture Editor Danielle Mattoon said it herself that the paper’s editors need to ‘remind ourselves as editors of our blind spots, what we don’t know, and of how readers may react.’ Those sentiments are a step in the right direction, but we need to see action. The Times needs to make clear the measures it will take to address their diversity problem, and ensure offensive rants like Stanley’s don’t slip through the cracks by way of the ‘blind spots’ of their editors.

“Our members at ColorOfChange.org and the thousands of others deserve a plan for a path forward to prevent dehumanizing articles like this one from receiving the influential platform the New York Times provides. Printing Stanley’s article was a mistake; a news outlet that bills itself as the ‘paper of record’ should be able to not only admit their mistakes, but also learn from them and take the necessary steps towards ensuring this never happens again.”

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With more than 900,000 members,ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest online civil rights organization.