(I can't seem to come up with anything for a title to convey the tone and intent of this post... so it will remain, a letter....)
I wanted to use this post today for something a little more intimate.
I am white.
I live in a small town that is 97% white. I grew up in a small town that was 99% white.
My race is represented everywhere. I have no problem turning on the television opening up a magazine and see people of my race represented. I’ve never had to speak out for people of my race.
And because of that, I have never had to deal with race. I have never had to think about it, even acknowledge it.
A few months ago I didn’t understand what white privilege is and I never thought that I, myself was a product of white privilege. It’s not something that you get to decide if you have, it’s not something that you get to decide if you want. It just is. And it will continue to be that way until white supremacy ceases from our society.
(Added 2/14/10- Let me just note that the use of the word white privilege in this post is not meant to offend anyone that is white. It has nothing to do with "you" personally. It has nothing to do with where people grow up, what their religion is. People can be a product of white privilege and have grown up in a community where they were the minority. Here is a file to an article that someone much wiser than me explains white privilege: http://www.case.edu/president/aaction/UnpackingTheKnapsack.pdf)
I always assumed white privilege, was reserved for those people that were racist. I thought white privilege meant that you thought of yourself as superior. And after talking to white people about this issue, they have no idea what white privilege really means.
White privilege isn’t thinking you are better than someone, it isn’t about being racist at all. White privilege is the fact that I’ve never had to think about race. It’s the fact that I have never not gotten a job because I’m white. It’s the fact that I have never had to think about not seeing a white person on a book cover, that I’ve never had to think about not reading about a white person. White privilege is being in a social situation and not feeling uncomfortable because of my race...
A few months ago, I wrote a post entitled “Am I A Bad Person” that I later changed to “No, I Am Not A Perfect Person.” This post was ridiculed, it was found humorous, enraged over, it was called the obvious product of my white privilege. And it was.
Am I sorry I wrote it. No.
Yes, you read that correctly. No, I’m not.
I’m not sorry because it took this experience for me, a white person, to “see”. I apologize to those bloggers and readers that I offended with my ignorance. I can assure you in the most sincerest way that was never my intent.
I’m also not sorry because I gained a friend, Ari from Reading in Color. In all honestly that probably would not have happened otherwise. Ari as a person, makes me want to be a more informed and racially aware person. She is a much bigger person than I could ever be. She took the initiative to see behind the ignorance.
I may not have posted about the cover in question in the aforesaid post specifically, and I’m not saying that is something I will do in the future, but I have found ways that I am comfortable in expressing why I think it is important to feature PoC in Young Adult literature. And I hope you will too.
We should think in color.
When I read, my automatic response is to think the characters are white, unless stated otherwise. But white shouldn’t be a default, and I’m trying to consciously remember that.
I’ve made a pledge to consciously include novels written by PoC and novels featuring PoC by joining the PoC Reading Challenge. I encourage you to join the challenge as well!
Even if you don’t join the challenge, try to incorporate novels written by or featuring PoC for your reviews.
Ask you librarian to order a book featuring a PoC or a book written by a PoC.
Buy a PoC book.
Share a PoC book.
Write a letter to the publishers stating that you want to see more PoC gracing the covers of Young Adult Literature, that you want to read more books about PoC.
It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be difficult. You decide.
Make a change. Start with yourself.
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37 comments:
I am a person of mix races... with my Hawaiian blood dominating, thus, I have brown skin. But I am white and Asian as well. I love being mix and feel a sense of connection all over the map.
I especially have a great respect for culture because of it.
When I read a book I dont think race at all.... I read the synopsis and that's what determines if I am reading it or not.
It is interesting how you mentioned you use to default a character to a certain look if not otherwise stated. I dont think I do but I have never thought about it before reading this post.
I do find it exciting when a character happens to look like me when I read the description in the book later (when reading).... it really helps me to connect better but I dont choose books based on that.
I am very curious as to what PoC is so I better click on the link for more info.
Mahalo for a great post..... There are certain topic that are very sensitive and hard to write about but I commend you for it=)
You bring many good topics up on here and it was great to read them.
Thank you for such a thoughtful post. :D
As a side note though, I don't think one should feel penitent about not knowing things. In my opinion wilfully ignoring issues is wrong, simply not knowing about them is not.
I ofter wish Americans would take a glimpse at the racial cocktail and absolute equality we have in South America.
After living all my life in a place where color has absolutely no importance, where people can be called black and white as a joke because everyone knows it does not matter at all, living in the US has been shocking in that sense.
Even if this is one of the major countries on the planet, a lot still needs to be done in matters of race. To me, even the fact that it's called PoC at all instead of just regular YA lit or that books are separated in bookstores is a disgrace.
I wonder where I fall at being from Spanish (Spain) descendant mother and Portuguese father but born in Venezuela then marrying a French descendant and conceiving an Venezuelan/French/American child who is whiter than milk even though I'm tanned and have always loved to be as tanned as possible.
Sorry I got carried away... I loved this post though. Glad to see you talking about this issue. ;D
I posted about my feelings on PoC and the PoC Reading Challenge on my blog, so I am not going to do so again here.
I just wanted to point out that it is a sensitive subject, and that people need to be empathetic to different views.
I’m a product of mixed culture (Lithuanian Jewish and WASP.) With my olive skin and long curly black hair, I have been mistaken for an Arab, Italian, Egyptian etc. I got frisked in airports even before 9/11. People stare at me in Maine where diversity is more the exception than the rule. My husband is British and part Chilean and teaches Japanese politics.
When I choose novels to read and to write, I try to incorporate the multicultural experience. It’s true to life and it makes for more interesting characters. Cultural and racial diversity is a positive thing.
I know you read mostly YA, but these two literary novels do a wonderful job of exploring the issue of being African American:
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead (teenaged characters/reviewed on my blog)
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Louise Erdrich novels for adults and middle readers are terrific on the Native American experience. Jhumpa Lahiri is fabulous on Indian Americans and assimilation. These books would appeal to readers of all ages and backgrounds.
I also think it is only natural to assume that a character looks somewhat like you unless stated otherwise.
I would also like to know why there isn't more of an outcry when heavier characters are slenderized on book covers. The fact of the matter is that all women have to deal with the pressure to look skinny, youthful, etc.
That is all. *hugs*
I'm Puerto Rican and grew up in an area where white people were the minority and I can remember reading as a child, I always assumed the characters were black or Spanish. It wasn't a question in my mind. As I grew older that changed. I understood more and as my taste in reading changed I was able to gain a full understanding of how the publishing world portrays race. I wasn't happy with it, but I also wasn't going to punish an author by not reading their book because of it.
I married a white man who loves my Puerto Rican culture (and home cooking) and I in turn love his Italian culture and love to read about it! I think you're "awakening" is a wonderful thing and I wish more bloggers would get on the train. Great job :o)
That being said, I think your heart is totally in the right place and I don't mean to sound critical, just sharing another point of view on the subject.
I'm a little sad to see some of the comments here, though. I suppose it just demonstrates that there's still a long way to go. Katy makes a great point re. the lack of choice available to book buyers, when it comes to books written by PoC or with characters who are persons of colour.
Lovely post, though.
Kaz
I am on the other side of ignorance if I may say. I am white, but I grew up in a community where "I was the visible minority". SO I have no idea what the white privilege may feels like.
In high school, we were about 40ish people to hang out together on daily basis and we were only 2 white girls in the lot.
We had people from Asia, North Africia, South America, Russia just to name these in our groups of friends.
I have a hard time with racism because I just can't figure out how you can prejudice someone based on skin color, because it's something I never felt.
I know racism is all over the place, and it really gets to me.
My best friend is Haitian and I <3 her very much!
I hope everyone implements Kristi's suggestions!
Racism is one of the things I hate most in the world (right up there with homophobia, child abuse and animal cruelty) - but when I read a book, I will read it because the story is good, because it's written well... the race of the characters or the author or the person on the cover of the book just isn't a factor.
I judge an author by their talent, not their race. I just a story by how much I like the plot, the characters and the writing, NOT the race of the characters and I judge a book cover on... well, I don't even know with that one, but race isn't a deciding factor on whether I find something beautiful, that includes book covers.
I have friends of different races, I fell for a guy from a different race - I've seen them have to deal with racism and I've been angry and hurt for them... but people making a big deal about PoC in YA lit bothers me because it's making it a big issue - the cover thing is the only part of this that even comes close to being a race issue, the thing about the characters and the authors isn't.
People will probably get annoyed or call me ignorant or something for saying all this, but really, I don't care (and I'm sure some people will have issues with that too).
I know I'm not racist and I'm not ignorant - the reason I'm not racist and have never been racist is because a persons race doesn't matter to me... that applies to any aspect of my life:
-I watch movies because I like the story/characters/acting... the race of the people involved in the movie will not influence whether or not I like it.
-As for books, same as above.
-The people I'm friends with or guys I like, as far as that goes I'm pretty much colourblind, it's their personalities that matter, not their race.
Fair enough if people want to take part in the PoC reading challenge thing, but the reason I won't be is because as far as reading goes, I just want to read good books and the race of the author or character isn't an issue for me at all.
This isn't just limited to race - a friend linked me to another reading challenge a while ago, about reading more British YA books--whether it's the authors or the setting--and I wouldn't take part because it's the same as the race thing: where the author is from or the story is set just isn't an issue for me as long as the story is good... and this is coming from someone who IS British.
You said "we should think in colour" - I disagree, hell, if everyone was a little more colourblind then there'd be less racism in the world... when I say colourblind, I mean that to me all races are on the same level, there isn't one that should be superior to the other.
I mentioned the cover thing is the only thing that is close to being an issue and I stand by that, when the character in the book is of a different race to the one in the book and it's something deliberately done by the art dept/publishers because they think it'll sell better then it is a problem.
But, in saying that, in cases like that I've seen people threatening to boycott books because of it which is really really dumb because we know how little say authors have in their covers and it's hurting the author by not reading the book.
I kind of wish the roles would be reversed just once, for their to be a white character portrayed on the cover by someone of a different race - I doubt people would make such a fuss out of that happening, so I kind of hope it does happen, I'm curious about how people would react. To be honest, I'd have no issue with it - when I read a book, I'll picture the characters how I want to anyway, regardless of what the cover looks like.
I'm not perfect. Too often I'm the latter person in that example. But I'm trying.
Many of the comments read as Kristi's main point is missed.
And saying you don't look for race isn't the point for the POC challenge and why seeing race matters. The reality is people of color aren't even on your radar.
The reality is because there are so few POC books published, why would you notice the race of the author or characters?
Because African American ficton is often located in a different area, you don't have to avoid or not notice it when you it's not in your path to begin with. Like Kristi said, you can go live and read and never have to encounter POC.
Many books by POC authors are not focused on race but if you don't read POC you don't know that.
And to the young woman who says she doesn't read many AA writers because of the genres she enjoys, that's a huge obstacle and misrepresentation. There are African Americans besides Octavia Butler writing science fiction and fantasy but these POC sci-fi writers aren't promoted and stocked in the stores so unless you look for them how would you know they write the genres you read?
The idea that you read by interest and not race is an argument for a POC Challenge. Every book by POC isn't about race, the immigrant experience, historical, urban or otherwise oppressive but time and again, when we talk race readers focus on defending their reading habits versus acknowledging how race is blocking writers from connecting with a larger audience.
If race is not an issue why can't the majority of you name POC writers who write sci-fi, fantasy, romance, thrillers, historical fiction and adventure stories?
If race is a non-issue why aren't more books written by POC reviewed on YA blogs?
Why is it I can talk with you about Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, When You Reach Me and a slew of popular white authors because I read and enjoy them but if I ask you about Jacqueline Woodson who's written 22 books over 10 years, you get the deer in the headlights look?
When we can talk about books that are widely read in mainstream and reviewed in mainstream and those authors are diverse in race/ethnicity/culture then we can say there is no racial barrier.
Reading POC isn't about criticizing your choices. What is at issue is when are you going to invite me into your space?
I'm one of the people that said race isn't an issue with me when I'm buying books because I just go for books that sound interesting to me - meaning if I see a book that sounds appealing to me with a POC author or character then I will read it, but the race of the author or character doesn't even factor into it for me, it's just about the story (usually I don't even KNOW the race of the author when buying the book unless there happens to be a very obvious author picture somewhere I can't miss).
And I HAVE read books with main characters or authors who aren't white - maybe it's less of an issue with me because I buy all my books online (no proper book stores near me) so I'm not just going to a certain section of a book store where the books will be shoved into some different catagory that I won't see.
Basically, the problem is with publishers - they're the ones "white washing" some covers and book sellers are shoving the books into different catagories where some YA readers may not find them.
We could make THEM aware of the fact that it's not okay with us that they do that (and haven't the readers done that already with a few cover issues recently?), but posts like this that tend to end up with people receiving comments about how "disappointed" people are in them for not agreeing with the issue bother me. ESPECIALLY, when people start calling people ignorant and things like that for saying race isn't an issue to them.
The people saying that race isn't an issue to them when they read aren't saying they WON'T read books by/about POC, they're saying that they won't read a book simply BECAUSE it is by/about a POC. There's a big difference.
"If race is a non-issue why aren't more books written by POC reviewed on YA blogs?"
That comment is making it sound like YA bloggers are deliberately dodging books with POC authors which isn't the case at all... I can't speak for other bloggers when giving my answer to that question, but for me:
Honestly, there probably is books by/about POC in my TBR pile - I just haven't gotten to them yet and I wouldn't even know if the character is a POC because I've not read the books yet and I don't know if the author is because 9 times out of 10 I don't actually really properly look up an author until AFTER I've read a book I love by them.
There may even already be books by/about POC on my blog, I don't know because honestly - when I read about, unless the race of a character is a key part of the plot (for example they're descriminated because of it or something) then it's not something I really remember, I remember the characters and the writing and the plot - not what the characters looked like, that includes skin colour. Same applies to the author thing, I don't exactly Google every author I read to check their race before reading.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I don't say that it's not an issue because I'm ignorant or racist - I say it because I'm not those things, race isn't an important factor in me liking things (musicians, books, movies, people).
It's not like people deliberately set out to make friends with people from different races just so they won't appear to be ignorant or like they're descriminating - for me, the same applies to books, I won't base my reason for reading something on race, I'll base it on whether or not I like the story (and because I buy my books from Amazon, I'm not cut off from books by POC because of the particular shelves they get shoved on in a bookstore).
I haven't called anyone racist or ignorant. Are you responding to what I said or are you responding to your own need to be clear that you are not prejudiced? I never made the accusation.
I said you have the luxury of not having to notice race. I said the same thing Kristi said. I said it's easy for you not to consider if race matters. You're not invisible in society. People of color are. And our invisibility is not helped by you not caring about race.
Nowhere did I say you wouldn't read a book by POC.
Please read this conversation that a mother had to explain to her 11-year-old. This child would like to know if race isn't a problem why is Airbender, a movie now being done with an all white cast when the story had all POC characters.
If you respond, know that I know when to bow. I'm not compelled to change your mind or to defend myself so please know I've said all I'm going to say here.
http://elloecho.blogspot.com/2010/02/conversation-about-racism-with-my.html
Oh, I didn't mean YOU were calling people ignorant or anything like that - that was referring to other posts like this where in the comments people got called that (even Kristi mentions that her previous post on the issue was met with comments like that).
You seem to be misunderstanding what I mean - NO ONE is invisible to me, doesn't matter what their race or culture is... I view everyone equally and when it comes to authors and books, I judge them equally regardless of the race of the character/author.
I do care about the issue of race descrimination and all that - I mentioned in one of my previous comments, I have friends from different races and fell for a guy from a different race and I saw some of them have to deal with racism and I got more angry about it than they did.
You don't know anything about me really or my life so it's not really a fair statement to make that I "have the luxury of not having to notice race" - I'm white, but it hurt way more to see people treat people I care about badly based on the colour of their skin, to see one of my friends in tears because some guys were making fun of her, than if they were saying it to me. Racism matters to me A LOT it's one of the things I hate most in the world, I may not have to deal with it first hand (the most I've had to deal with is people insulting me for being Scottish), but to me the aim is for people to be treated as equals & I do that.
I don't think it's right for publishers to white wash book covers or hide books written by POC on a different shelf where less people will see them - my point is, that's a problem with publishers and book sellers and if Kristi's post and other posts I've seen like it was talking about coming up with a way to make THEM aware of the fact we want change then I'd be all for it (by getting them to change some white washed covers recently, it's proven that they will listen if enough people call them out on it).
But the thing is, when people make posts like this and people comment on it, a whole lot of it is putting the blame on ignorance or "white privilige" of the readers.
The reason I don't like the idea of the POC book challenge is pretty much been summed up by what Kristi said about it: "I’ve made a pledge to consciously include novels written by PoC and novels featuring PoC" - I've never NOT included them and to me, reading a book just because it's written by or about a POC isn't exactly treating people as equals... I judge an author or story the same way no matter what and I don't like how some people seem to think I'm wrong for doing that (again, that's not aimed at you, it's comments on all posts like this one that I've seen).
This isn't even my view just about the issue of race, it applies to everything - religion, age, sexuality, nationality. A good novel is good regardless of the catagory the author would fall into for any of those things.
This: "Write a letter to the publishers stating that you want to see more PoC gracing the covers of Young Adult Literature, that you want to read more books about PoC."
That is the part of Kristi's post I actually agree with - if people are annoyed about the issue then posts like this one should be focussing on doing stuff like that because that's not bringing the whole "white privilige"/ignorance thing into it and making the readers feel bad, it goes straight to the heart of where the changes need to be made.
I completely see where you're coming from and I'm sorry if I've offended you, I was replying to some of the things you said but I do have a tendecy to ramble and my response got a bit more general than just being a reply to what you said (& I've probably done it again in this comment too).
Thank you for sharing your enlightenment with all of us. It is something that I hope for all people. Because racism can go both ways and everyone can benefit from having their eyes opened wide to the beautiful world around them. Thank you for sharing this post. Thank you for recognizing that we aren't striving to see the world as colorblind - what we are doing is striving to see that all colors are beautiful in their unique and wonderful ways. You just showed the world your beautiful soul.
Having said that, I have never seeked out a book because of the race of the author/characters, and I have never NOt read a book for those reasons. Whilte I agree it's wrong to not publicize a book because of the authors race or to skew the view of the character to be able to sell more books - I personally am not going to seek out specific books that have authors/characters of a different race than mine in them. Most of the books I find/read etc are by recommendation and to completely honest I don't have TIME to sit around and acour through books trying to find something that's specifically ANYTHING. I welcome recommendations on my site for any type of book that people that I'd like whether it's a book by a white author, black author, green, yellow, orange, or purple people eater author. It doesn't matter as long as I like the general idea of the story.
I also agree with people who are saying race shouldn't be an issue. Authors should no thave to worry about race when wanting to publish a book and we as readers should not be thinking 'oh what race is this author' when deciding to read or not read a book. It's something that shouldn't matter. Not that any race is bad, but that every race should be trated with equality and equal oppertunities as the next.
----
Also, Susan, I've been hearing A LOT about the Airbender movie & the white-washing people have believed to be going on in the movie (honestly I loved the cartoon and I was more than upset about a movie anyhow, I think it was perfect the way it was). However, I'd like to know why people are only up in arms now that you can SEE the characters as 'real people' - most of the actors who VOICED the characters were white as well, but that didn't seem to matter as much? (I'm not trying to be rude, but it's something I've thought about and no one seems to have any decent opinion/thoughts on it & since you brought it up, I figured maybe you would).
(Also, Kristi sorry about the book in your comments, you know how I get haha)
:-)
Publishers whitewash because they believe majority readers are whites and majority bloggers are whites, and these white people hardly read books by POC authors or with POC characters. That same mentality is adopted by booksellers, and they in turn stick books by POC authors at the back, in a place where people will hardly ever go.
Now you – Anna Moore and Lanna Lovely – coming out and saying you won't participate in the POC challenge because you refuse to read a book based on the author being non-white is confirming exactly what the publishers believe - that white people won't read books by POC authors (even though it's not true), and I’ll explain why.
You HAVE to make a conscious effort to read these books. I'm sorry. Your argument that you're not going to deliberately pick up a book by an author who is black/asian because that means you're being unfair to other authors is actually silly. I don't want to sound harsh, but it's true. When was the last time you read a book by a POC author? When was the last time you reviewed a book by a POC author? I'm guessing it was a long time. I'm also guessing that even if you did read books by POC authors and reviewed them, they were three, compared to the thirty odd ones by white authors which you read and reviewed.
I know you didn't deliberately set out to review only white authored books, but you also didn't review enough POC-authored books, because you didn’t hear about them. And you know why you didn’t hear about them? The publishers and booksellers, that’s why. They believed YOU wouldn’t read them so they didn’t support these authors by trying to put their books out there, in YOUR radar.
*Continued below*
Kinda confusing, but very true.
So for some publishers, they think, “Man we have to get Anna-Moore and Lanna-Lovely to read our POC authored books, but how? If we put a black dude on the cover, the booksellers will toss the book at the back of the store, and Anna and Lanna sure as hell ain’t venturing down there anytime soon. So what the hell do we do? Oh, oh, I know – we trick the booksellers. We put a white dude on the book! That way the booksellers put the book up front. That way, through exposure, it falls into Anna and Lanna’s radar and they review it! Awesome!”
No, not awesome.
Hence, the POC challenge. The idea of the POC challenge is not to force you to read books by POC authors or make you feel bad for being white. It's to get you to support these authors who get little support BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE. How do you think whitewashing is going to stop? Lanna-Lovely, you mentioned something about writing letters. I pretty much pissed myself laughing. You think writing letters is the answer? The only answer is support. If more bloggers show their support for POC authors or books with POC characters, then publishers won't be scared into whitewashing. And right now the only way to do show support is to "consciously" or "deliberately" go out there and search for these books, buy them and read them and review them on your blogs. That's what Ari is saying. That's what the book smugglers are saying. That's what this Kristi is saying. That’s what everyone else is saying.
PS: @Anna-More: your argument supporting the whitewashing of the Airbender movie is as off course as a Formula One driver racing off into the greens.
Hardly anyone on this planet relates more to voice than they do to a character on screen. I don't even remember how Aang or Zuko sound like, or whether they sound white or black.
Now, people didn’t complain about white dudes voicing Zuko and other dark-skinned/Asian characters in the cartoon, and that was wrong of them – of us. We should have said something. But that doesn’t mean cos we didn’t then we shouldn’t say anything about what’s happening now.
No one complained when a bunch of black people were being sold during slavery, beaten, and murdered. No one complained at first when women were being belittled back in the days and given less rights. So I guess the people like Dr King and Rosa Parks who later stood up and said, "Ok, enough is enough. It happened back then, no one said anything, but now we're going to say something," - I guess those people were idiots. I mean, they should have shut up and let shit happen.
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