At first glance I thought Jay-Z was top 400

I snatched up the magazine and purchased it, anxious to get it home, to see how far he was from the bottom. Much to my surprise, his name was not even on the list. BlackVoices goes hard...

Jay-Z Exploited by Forbes Magazine to Sell '400 Richest Americans' Issue

Jay-Z is featured on the cover of this month's Forbes magazine with billionaire Warren Buffet, not because he is listed as one of the 400 richest people in America by Forbes, as Buffet is. No, Jay-Z is included on the Forbes cover because someday, he hopes he will be included on the list of the 400 richest people in America. And Jay-Z just might be, if over the latter half of his life the rap mogul can double his wealth.

Of course, if one takes a closer look at Forbes' list of the 400 richest people in America, you will find exactly one black person: Oprah Winfrey. While that is no surprise, perhaps putting Oprah on the cover would not provide the needed boost of attention that Forbes is going for. I also can't imagine Oprah submitting to the condescending "little sibling" role that Jay is treated with by the editors of Forbes in pairing the successful rapper with the ancient investor. In addition to brazening using Jay-Z to sell magazines, what this does is two things:

1. It avoids a critical examination of what it takes to build massive wealth in this country, and who has access to that capital. If you look at the list of the 400 richest people in America, you will see that many of the richest are women and men who have inherited wealth from extremely successful family members. And of course, you will see mostly white people, and very few women. By putting a "cool black guy" on the cover who isn't even on the list, Forbes seems to be trying to make America turn a blind eye to who is actually rich, how they get that way and how they stay that way. And forget about who is consistently kept out. Sorry, Forbes, but we at Black Voices aren't distracted.

2. Jay-Z, who typically has a strong black male image, is made to seem submissive and needy. It has been widely reported that corporate America prefers black men who are "baby-faced," thus not threatening in appearance or demeanor to the mostly white men who run everything. This preference for docile-looking black men has of course made it difficult for African American men who do not fit this mold to get ahead in a corporate environment, even if their hard work and education make them deserving of promotion.

By casting Warren Buffet as the big kind Dad who can teach little Jay-Z to be a billionaire like him someday if he tries, not only is Forbes trying to get us to ignore all the many real barriers to wealth creation that most people face, "trying" aside (see point one). Corporate leaders who prefer their blacks submissive also get to eat up this kinder, gentler Jay like so much cream pie, thus reinforcing their preference for baby-faced black men. The magazine is also taking away one of the amazing things about Jay-Z's image that the African American community loves -- his inspiring masculine energy of self-determination. Say it ain't so, Hove!