Well, okay, not really. But if I were a character in a novel and the author took the time to describe my skin color, they'd probably use the word chocolate. Or maybe cinnamon... Anyway, my skin is brown, but saying "black" or "of African descent" would be too obvious, I guess, even though describing skin color with foods has become a handy cliché that makes certain people feel like racist cannibals.
Although we've certainly come a long way, race is still a touchy subject for a lot of people, and that's no different in the world of publishing. Statistically, people of color don't get published nearly as often as whites, and when they do, the book covers sometimes prominently feature Caucasians - even if the book itself does not. No, it's probably not a conscious decision on the part of the publishers or the book designers or whoever else determines what makes it to the shelves or not (for the low rates of published minority authors, anyway - the whitewashing of book covers is totally their fault), but it's still very hard to support the notion that people are color blind, even if we'd like to think that we are.
Take me, for example. I read a lot of books in a whole lot of genres and styles. I have bought so many books over the years that I've probably demolished a whole forest, and because of that I've been well acquainted with the layouts of bookstores and libraries. And in a lot of them, there's usually an "African American literature" section, despite the fact that I've never seen an Asian American or a Native American shelf. Every time I see those signs, I cringe. It gives the impression that only black people want to read books about black people or by black authors when obviously that's not true. I mean, I've never tossed a book aside just because the main characters was white. Good writing is good writing.
But at the same time, when I read a book and find a minority character where I wasn't expecting one, it makes me happy, like I've found the needle in a haystack. Unless the author specifically says otherwise, I automatically assume all characters are white, and I think that's because after all my years of reading, 99.9% of the time that's true. So why would I consciously avoid the "chocolate" section, then? It's hard to say. Sometimes I think it's because I don't want to perpetuate the stupid segregation of books, but other times I think it's because I'd only wander into that area and read a chocolate book because I felt obligated to. I've had some people actually scold me for avoiding the African American literature section, because I should have some special loyalty to authors simply because they have a similar heritage.
It's a delicate balance, I suppose - choosing between the desire to read only what is interesting and the desire to make the effort to read something out of duty. But a book is a book is a book, and if I had my way, chocolate and vanilla and olive and cinnamon books would be in a big vat of sweetness for everyone to enjoy without having to do something so superficial as put a label on it. So yes, when someone recommends a great book that just happens to feature people of color, I'll be more than happy to give it a try. But it irritates me when someone hands me a book regardless of genre or quality and says, "Here - you're black, she's black, black power. You'll love it."
I'll never reject a book simply based on the color of its characters or its author - but I won't accept a book simply because of color, either. To do otherwise would be disrespectful to people of all food groups.
4 comments:
That's me, the involuntary hungry racist cannibal. Why do authors have to make me feel like all non-white characters are snackage? That's not a good message to send. "Ooh, like this non-Caucasian character. They're tasty! Literally."
There is a twisted irony to the fact that African American literature has its own section in stores. Segregation, anyone? It's ridiculous.
I find the "African American" section about as off-putting as I did the "Maori" or "New Zealand Authors" sections back in New Zealand. In fact, when I was at school in NZ, we had to read a set number of books for English class, one of which had to be by a New Zealand author and one of which had to be by a Maori author. Now, I know there are some Maori Australians but it most cases Maori authors are New Zealand authors. FAIL.
When you mentioned "whitewashing" the first book that came to mind was 'Magic Under Glass' by Jaclyn Dolamore. Both the original American edition and the UK edition had whitewashed covers. Sure, the covers look nice without any context but they misrepresent the character and I find that offensive.
Brilliant post, Sydnee. You've made me hungry for literary discussion and chocolate. Curse my involuntary cannibalistic urges! Also, still waiting on my nougat character.
Omg. That's hysterical. I saw this right after having to explain to someone why I LOVED Langston Hughes so much as a kid even though I am white and he didn't always speak highly of "whites". Apparently, "Why the heck would that matter?" didn't cut it.
I never thought about it but I bet having segregated literature (whether the "African American" or the "Maori", etc.) in a different section means that it isn't on the shelves with other novels in its genre, making it less likely to be easy to find by your average reader. Seems pretty silly. I always go automatically to the YA section, Fantasy/Science fiction or the text books. Kind of sad that I may have missed out on a good book because it wasn't with other books from its genre.
Okay... Now I want chocolate...
So well said. While I love to see minorities represented in literature, I don't read books just because they have Hispanic characters, nor do I discriminate against them. I think I'd be really irritated though if they had them singled out in the bookstore, in part because I wouldn't pick up a book just because it had a Hispanic character or theme. It could still be a crappy book!
I agree. I choose books because of the story line or the characters, not because of the skin color of the author or characters. I, too, love finding non-traditional characters and think books could use more of them because they're so much more interesting. And I don't know why books are segregated in book stores. Even in my library I encountered an "African American" fiction section but it included mostly romance novels which I don't read anyway.
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