Homosexual magazine Out gets a lot of shit for not putting more gays on the cover. (The latest Neil Patrick Harris cover being an exception.) There is, however, the worthwhile argument that there aren't enough high-profile gays with projects to promote to choose from every month, which means gay-friendly heteros get slapped on the cover instead. (There's also the argument a magazine like Out could raise the standings of under-the-radar gays to create more high-profile homos to feature.)

But a magazine like Vibe doesn't really have that problem. Black celebrities may be ignored by the tabloids, but there are — and this may shock some of you — tons of them. America (that's white America) knows the big ones, like Beyonce and Tyler Perry. Jill Marie Jones? Not so much. But they are the gods and goddesses of black entertainment.

So what happens when a white guy tries to infiltrate the system? Pop star crooner and white person Robin Thicke, who is married to the insatiable black actress Paula Patton, found out:

When I did a recent interview with Vibe magazine I asked, "Why can't I get the cover? This is a magazine I love. If there's one magazine that I'd want to be on the cover of, it's Vibe." Their response was they don't have white artists on the cover; that the only white artist they've had on the cover was Eminem. I guess if that's what it is, it is what it is. And I respect that because I live in a house with a black woman.

I won't use the word "racism." I will say it's a tough — but rewarding — fight. I look at Mary J. Blige, somebody who has had only a few pop hits and yet has changed culture, generated new sounds and inspired leagues of artists. She's now a worldwide phenomenon. And it's because of what she stood for; she never gave up. She kept making great music, pouring her heart out to people.

You can't always expect people to be as color-blind or open-minded as you want. What you can do is keep giving your heart and soul, like Bob Marley did. His music became so overwhelmingly loving; it was a relentless love in a sense. Keep beating them down with love and they can't stop you.

If it makes Thicke feel any better, neither Justin Timberlake nor Bill Clinton have been on Vibe either. Though Robert De Niro got squeezed in — next to 50 Cent.

[Ed: As has been pointed out, Timberlake did appear on Vibe, in Feb. 2003. Which sort of debunks Thicke's claim that Eminem is the only white artist to have appeared on the magazine.]

[Victoria News via Stereohyped]