It’s nice to see Advertising Age ramp up its coverage of diversity in advertising and in general. We’ve been supporters of the exploration of diversity (or lack thereof) in the ad business and are glad the industry’s number one publication has increased the size of the platform where this conversation can take place.
In The Big Tent, a diversity-focused Advertising Age blog, new contributor Doug Melville writes about his experiences as a “Halfrican,” the term given to a person who is half black and half something else. Melville does a nice job exploring the issue and sharing his life experience as a Halfrican, a segment of the population representing five percent of Americans.
The piece sparked conversation in the comment section about the importance one places on ethnicity and how that relates to being an American. Yes, we’re all Americans but to many, that’s not everything. It doesn’t paint the complete picture of a person if the impact of other cultures in his or her life is eclipsed by the blanket term, “American.”
