[Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors (Tony Greiner)
Ellie Avis
eavis at josephinelibrary.org
Tue Feb 4 14:09:46 PST 2020
I just want to support those who are making the point that the American Dirt controversy isn't about policing who can write about characters of a different race or ethnicity than themselves, it is about which voices get elevated within the publishing industry. The popularity of a book--especially before its release--is largely determined by how much money the publisher puts behind it. Let's face it, as this article from The Guardian points out, the publishing industry is still overwhelmingly white:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/30/us-publishing-american-dirt-survey-diversity-cultural-appropriation
No one is saying that libraries should censor this book. People are just pointing out that there are Latinx voices telling similar stories (maybe even a few that Ms. Cummins read/borrowed from) and that maybe those authors should be getting more love/attention/book tours.
Writing a negative review of a (popular/well-funded) book isn't censorship. It's free speech.
Ellie Avis
Collection Development Librarian
Josephine Community Library District
200 NW C St, Grants Pass, Oregon
Tel. 541-476-0571 ext. 102
"Information helps you to see that you're not alone. That there's somebody in Mississippi and somebody in Tokyo who all have wept, who've all longed and lost, who've all been happy. So the library helps you to see, not only that you are not alone, but that you're not really any different from everyone else."
- Maya Angelou
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 06:39:47 +0000
From: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>
To: "libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID:
<MWHPR05MB3536BA1C27C3BAE86A26CD0AFC030 at MWHPR05MB3536.namprd05.prod.outlook.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel American Dirt, which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those who want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These attacks are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that a white American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The censors, and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if her characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings in the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey has taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and last I heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her programs.
That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color. (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker than I can ever hope to be.
Tony Greiner
?No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to understand, to learn, to inhabit another world?- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of another race or culture:
Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat; The Pearl.
Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: Good Earth, and others. Buck has also been a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her work has been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing, China.
Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the Day.
David Guterson. Snow Falling on Cedars. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for Fiction, 1995.
Dubose Heyward. Porgy. Praised by Langston Hughes, who said that Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is the basis for George Gershwin?s opera ?Porgy and Bess.? "Porgy and Bess" has had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded by many black jazz musicians. Gershwin?s will stipulates that the opera may only be produced with a black cast.
James Patterson. A series of detective novels featuring Alex Cross.
James Baldwin. Short Story: ?The Man Child.?
Ann Petry. Country Place. Petry isn?t well known now, but her first novel, The Street, (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an African-American woman to sell 1,000,000 copies.
Richard Wright. Savage Holiday. Wright?s novel about an insurance executive has no black characters.
Zora Neale Hurston. Seraph on the Suwanee. This novel looks at the life of poor white ?crackers? in Florida.
Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels with only white characters, The Uncalled (1898) and The Love of Landry (1900) a western.
**tony_greiner at hotmail.com**
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2020 23:08:47 -0800
From: Diedre Conkling <diedre08 at gmail.com>
To: libs-or <libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID:
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
I?m really not qualified to address all of the issues related to this
book. I am wondering if people saw this. ?
Today, #DignidadLiteraria & Presente.org won an unprecedented commitment
from the leadership of Macmillan Books to transform their publishing
practices to include substantial increases in Latinx titles & staff,
company wide. Read our full statement ?#DignidadLiteraria ?
Go to this Facebook page for the full statement:
https://www.facebook.com/102947668622/posts/10158412517063623/?d=n
On Mon, Feb 3, 2020 at 10:39 PM Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one
> can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that
> slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel *American
> Dirt, *which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly
> reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those who
> want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These attacks
> are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that a white
> American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The censors,
> and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the
> cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
>
> Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if her
> characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings in
> the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey has
> taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and last I
> heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her programs.
>
> That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in
> cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of
> censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With
> that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American
> Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this
> defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a
> list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color.
> (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert
> Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of
> Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write
> fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these
> authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker
> than I can ever hope to be.
>
>
> Tony Greiner
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * ?No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to
> understand, to learn, to inhabit another world?- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
> Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of
> another race or culture: Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat; The
> Pearl. Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: Good Earth, and others. Buck has also
> been a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her
> work has been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing,
> China. Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the Day. David
> Guterson. Snow Falling on Cedars. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for
> Fiction, 1995. Dubose Heyward. Porgy. Praised by Langston Hughes, who said
> that Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities
> in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is
> the basis for George Gershwin?s opera ?Porgy and Bess.? "Porgy and Bess"
> has had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded
> by many black jazz musicians. Gershwin?s will stipulates that the opera may
> only be produced with a black cast. James Patterson. A series of detective
> novels featuring Alex Cross. James Baldwin. Short Story: ?The Man Child.?
> Ann Petry. Country Place. Petry isn?t well known now, but her first novel,
> The Street, (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an African-American
> woman to sell 1,000,000 copies. Richard Wright. Savage Holiday. Wright?s
> novel about an insurance executive has no black characters. Zora Neale
> Hurston. Seraph on the Suwanee. This novel looks at the life of poor white
> ?crackers? in Florida. *
>
>
> * Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels
> with only white characters, The Uncalled (1898) and The Love of Landry
> (1900) a western. *
> **tony_greiner at hotmail.com**
>
--
*Diedre Conkling*
*diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>
?If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change
your attitude.??Maya Angelou
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 04:27:45 -0800
From: Max Macias <max.macias at gmail.com>
To: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>
Cc: "libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>, "uwmosaic at u.washington.edu"
<UWMOSAIC at u.washington.edu>, "REFORMANet at googlegroups.com"
<REFORMANet at googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID: <7AA5D105-ADF2-4176-BF79-C9EA4670EAA4 at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
You and your friend Heather should write a book about that Tony!
?
Max
Sent from my iPhone
> On Feb 3, 2020, at 10:39 PM, Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel American Dirt, which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those who want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These attacks are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that a white American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The censors, and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
>
> Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if her characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings in the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey has taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and last I heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her programs.
>
> That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color. (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker than I can ever hope to be.
>
>
> Tony Greiner
>
> ?No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to understand, to learn, to inhabit another world?- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
>
> Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of another race or culture:
>
> Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat; The Pearl.
>
> Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: Good Earth, and others. Buck has also been a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her work has been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing, China.
>
> Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the Day.
>
> David Guterson. Snow Falling on Cedars. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for Fiction, 1995.
>
> Dubose Heyward. Porgy. Praised by Langston Hughes, who said that Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is the basis for George Gershwin?s opera ?Porgy and Bess.? "Porgy and Bess" has had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded by many black jazz musicians. Gershwin?s will stipulates that the opera may only be produced with a black cast.
>
> James Patterson. A series of detective novels featuring Alex Cross.
>
> James Baldwin. Short Story: ?The Man Child.?
>
> Ann Petry. Country Place. Petry isn?t well known now, but her first novel, The Street, (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an African-American woman to sell 1,000,000 copies.
>
> Richard Wright. Savage Holiday. Wright?s novel about an insurance executive has no black characters.
>
> Zora Neale Hurston. Seraph on the Suwanee. This novel looks at the life of poor white ?crackers? in Florida.
>
> Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels with only white characters, The Uncalled (1898) and The Love of Landry (1900) a western.
>
>
> **tony_greiner at hotmail.com**
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 07:14:26 -0800
From: Anna Skinner <factwrangler at gmail.com>
To: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>
Cc: "libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID:
<CAPG73+wKdrszKNgrNuMctr5bYK9OobnmrvtC76n+b-Zw=EBahA at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Hi, Tony. My local library system, Multnomah County, shows 542 holds on 189
copies of the book, and another 387 holds on 52 copies of the audio
version. A WorldCat search shows it's available at 601 libraries.
So it's not like libraries are out there burning the novel in piles on the
sidewalk, or telling anyone what they can and can't read.
Anna
On Mon, Feb 3, 2020 at 10:39 PM Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one
> can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that
> slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel *American
> Dirt, *which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly
> reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those who
> want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These attacks
> are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that a white
> American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The censors,
> and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the
> cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
>
> Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if her
> characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings in
> the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey has
> taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and last I
> heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her programs.
>
> That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in
> cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of
> censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With
> that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American
> Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this
> defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a
> list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color.
> (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert
> Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of
> Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write
> fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these
> authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker
> than I can ever hope to be.
>
>
> Tony Greiner
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * ?No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to
> understand, to learn, to inhabit another world?- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
> Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of
> another race or culture: Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat; The
> Pearl. Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: Good Earth, and others. Buck has also
> been a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her
> work has been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing,
> China. Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the Day. David
> Guterson. Snow Falling on Cedars. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for
> Fiction, 1995. Dubose Heyward. Porgy. Praised by Langston Hughes, who said
> that Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities
> in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is
> the basis for George Gershwin?s opera ?Porgy and Bess.? "Porgy and Bess"
> has had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded
> by many black jazz musicians. Gershwin?s will stipulates that the opera may
> only be produced with a black cast. James Patterson. A series of detective
> novels featuring Alex Cross. James Baldwin. Short Story: ?The Man Child.?
> Ann Petry. Country Place. Petry isn?t well known now, but her first novel,
> The Street, (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an African-American
> woman to sell 1,000,000 copies. Richard Wright. Savage Holiday. Wright?s
> novel about an insurance executive has no black characters. Zora Neale
> Hurston. Seraph on the Suwanee. This novel looks at the life of poor white
> ?crackers? in Florida. *
>
>
> * Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels
> with only white characters, The Uncalled (1898) and The Love of Landry
> (1900) a western. *
> **tony_greiner at hotmail.com**
>
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Message: 10
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 10:50:31 -0800
From: Bryce Kozla <brycekozla.wccls at gmail.com>
To: Anna Skinner <factwrangler at gmail.com>
Cc: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>,
"libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID:
<CAPBiwe9mcDEyqK=moHezhu6V5Gb8QKiis1gnwV_7XH2=pySUqA at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
It's interesting to see this particular characterization of critical
dialogue around this specific media, for which the author received a
seven-figure advance and a spot on Oprah's Book Club. One might argue that
critical review is a necessary part of collection development when deciding
what books to order, reorder, recommend, or weed. That said, like MCL,
Washington County has 239 holds on 51 copies, and those are just the
physical print versions of the book.There is certainly demand for the book
and it is certainly getting into the hands of those who wish to read it.
For those that may have missed the controversy, here is some background:
"Digging Into 'American Dirt'"
<https://www.latinousa.org/2020/01/29/americandirt/> by Antonia Cereijido
at Latino Times
Here's a BuzzfeedNews article that breaks it down a bit as well,
<https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/american-dirt-jeanine-cummins-controversy-explained>
but with fewer people close to the content and a more broad coverage of the
story.
As you might see, there is more to this story than who can write what
stories.
There seems to be a rush to turn valid criticism into some sort of mob,
since Internet trolls used this opportunity to threaten the author. You've
got to wonder who that really benefits.
As an information professional I strive to continue to think critically
about my work and listen to the conversations around the media we provide.
The upcoming OLA Conference in Bend
<http://oregonlibconference.org/2020/program/> has some promising looking
sessions to further that learning. If you're reading this thread and are
interested, I hope you'll join me!
Bryce
On Tue, Feb 4, 2020 at 7:14 AM Anna Skinner <factwrangler at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, Tony. My local library system, Multnomah County, shows 542 holds on
> 189 copies of the book, and another 387 holds on 52 copies of the audio
> version. A WorldCat search shows it's available at 601 libraries.
>
> So it's not like libraries are out there burning the novel in piles on the
> sidewalk, or telling anyone what they can and can't read.
>
> Anna
>
> On Mon, Feb 3, 2020 at 10:39 PM Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one
>> can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that
>> slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel *American
>> Dirt, *which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly
>> reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those
>> who want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These
>> attacks are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that
>> a white American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The
>> censors, and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the
>> cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
>>
>> Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if
>> her characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings
>> in the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey
>> has taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and
>> last I heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her
>> programs.
>>
>> That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in
>> cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of
>> censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With
>> that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American
>> Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this
>> defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a
>> list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color.
>> (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert
>> Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of
>> Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write
>> fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these
>> authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker
>> than I can ever hope to be.
>>
>>
>> Tony Greiner
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> * ?No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to
>> understand, to learn, to inhabit another world?- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
>> Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of
>> another race or culture: Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat; The
>> Pearl. Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: Good Earth, and others. Buck has also
>> been a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her
>> work has been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing,
>> China. Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the Day. David
>> Guterson. Snow Falling on Cedars. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for
>> Fiction, 1995. Dubose Heyward. Porgy. Praised by Langston Hughes, who said
>> that Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities
>> in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is
>> the basis for George Gershwin?s opera ?Porgy and Bess.? "Porgy and Bess"
>> has had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded
>> by many black jazz musicians. Gershwin?s will stipulates that the opera may
>> only be produced with a black cast. James Patterson. A series of detective
>> novels featuring Alex Cross. James Baldwin. Short Story: ?The Man Child.?
>> Ann Petry. Country Place. Petry isn?t well known now, but her first novel,
>> The Street, (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an African-American
>> woman to sell 1,000,000 copies. Richard Wright. Savage Holiday. Wright?s
>> novel about an insurance executive has no black characters. Zora Neale
>> Hurston. Seraph on the Suwanee. This novel looks at the life of poor white
>> ?crackers? in Florida. *
>>
>>
>> * Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels
>> with only white characters, The Uncalled (1898) and The Love of Landry
>> (1900) a western. *
>> **tony_greiner at hotmail.com**
>>
>
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 18:51:10 +0000
From: Marci Jenkins <Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
To: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>,
"libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID: <bb06d06193034a21badc7fb22dde9d97 at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
Mr. Greiner
This was not a matter of censorship, nobody was trying to silence the author. This is a matter of lack of equal opportunities in the publishing industry and Latinx representation. Minimizing this context to censorship and nothing but speculation.
Marci Ramiro-Jenkins
Reference Librarian/Latinx Outreach Coordinator
McMinnville Public Library
503-435-5568
[librarybanner]
From: Libs-Or [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Tony Greiner
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2020 10:40 PM
To: libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
This message originated outside of the City of McMinnville.
________________________________
Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel American Dirt, which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those who want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These attacks are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that a white American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The censors, and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if her characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings in the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey has taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and last I heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her programs.
That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color. (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker than I can ever hope to be.
Tony Greiner
"No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to understand, to learn, to inhabit another world"- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of another race or culture:
Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flat; The Pearl.
Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: Good Earth, and others. Buck has also been a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her work has been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing, China.
Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. Remains of the Day.
David Guterson. Snow Falling on Cedars. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner award for Fiction, 1995.
Dubose Heyward. Porgy. Praised by Langston Hughes, who said that Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is the basis for George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess." "Porgy and Bess" has had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded by many black jazz musicians. Gershwin's will stipulates that the opera may only be produced with a black cast.
James Patterson. A series of detective novels featuring Alex Cross.
James Baldwin. Short Story: "The Man Child."
Ann Petry. Country Place. Petry isn't well known now, but her first novel, The Street, (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an African-American woman to sell 1,000,000 copies.
Richard Wright. Savage Holiday. Wright's novel about an insurance executive has no black characters.
Zora Neale Hurston. Seraph on the Suwanee. This novel looks at the life of poor white 'crackers' in Florida.
Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels with only white characters, The Uncalled (1898) and The Love of Landry (1900) a western.
**tony_greiner at hotmail.com**<mailto:**tony_greiner at hotmail.com**>
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 11:03:30 -0800
From: Candise Branum <cbranum at ocom.edu>
To: Marci Jenkins <Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
Cc: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>,
"libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID:
<CAE--DeVS3nOEWEzh=SoEYrES6dykr4KOf2+W0J_C5uyV6zU49w at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Thank you, Marci. The biggest crux of this issue really seemed to be around
the fact that this book was billed as a diverse and *authentic* voice, the
money that backed its publication and profits, and the inability for
publishers to offer even a splinter of these types of opportunities to
brown authors. As Diedre pointed out, the #DignidadLiteraria & Presente.org
could potentially be great thing that comes out of all of this.
This is an incredibly bad take on a nuanced controversy, and the use of the
phrase "Social Justice Warriors" to demean writers of color who have been
systematically shut out of the publishing industry (and were *not *threatening
the writer but voicing their dissatisfaction) is very telling.
*Candise Branum*
Director of Library Services
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM)
503-253-3443 x134 <(503)%20253-3443> | 75 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR
97209
<https://maps.google.com/?q=75+NW+Couch+Street,+Portland,+OR+97209&entry=gmail&source=g>
| library.ocom.edu
*Pronouns: She, her, hers**Want to donate? Check out our book wishlist
<http://a.co/7TjGlRX>*
On Tue, Feb 4, 2020 at 10:51 AM Marci Jenkins <
Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov> wrote:
> Mr. Greiner
>
>
>
> This was not a matter of censorship, nobody was trying to silence the
> author. This is a matter of lack of equal opportunities in the publishing
> industry and Latinx representation. Minimizing this context to censorship
> and nothing but speculation.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Marci Ramiro-Jenkins*
>
> Reference Librarian/Latinx Outreach Coordinator
>
> McMinnville Public Library
>
> 503-435-5568
>
> [image: librarybanner]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Libs-Or [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] *On
> Behalf Of *Tony Greiner
> *Sent:* Monday, February 3, 2020 10:40 PM
> *To:* libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
> *Subject:* [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
>
>
>
> *This message originated outside of the City of McMinnville.*
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Librarianship is in danger of losing one of its foundations- that no one
> can tell you what you can read, or what you can write. Let's not let that
> slip away. As I hope you know, Jeanine Cummins' new novel *American
> Dirt, *which tells the story of a middle-class Mexican woman suddenly
> reduced to refugee status, has been the subject of attacks from those who
> want to silence any voice or story they do not approve of. These attacks
> are not primarily on the quality of the book, but on the idea that a white
> American woman dare write a fictional story about Mexicans. The censors,
> and the threats of violence from their supporters have led to the
> cancellation of Cummin's book tour, including an appearance at Powells.
>
>
>
> Paired with that bigotry, the idea that a writer should be silenced if her
> characters don't match her skin color has been given serious hearings in
> the media. To my knowledge, only the wise and big-hearted Oprah WInfrey has
> taken the position that the book should be viewed on its merits, and last I
> heard, she was still planning on featuring the book on one of her programs.
>
>
>
> That said, the advocates of silencing others have tasted victory in
> cancelling the book tour. They may choose to continue their campaign of
> censorship by calling for removal of the book from library shelves. With
> that real possibility in mind (and given the silence from the American
> Library Association, which has chosen to look the other way,) I offer this
> defense that librarians may choose to take against the censors. It is a
> list of books with white protagonists written by famous people of color.
> (Some of the titles on this list were found in the research of Robert
> Fikes, a librarian at San Diego State University, and Martin Japtok of
> Palomar College.) If the censors assert that a white woman should not write
> fiction about a Mexican woman, then ask them if they wish to censor these
> authors as well. Included is a thought from a better writer and thinker
> than I can ever hope to be.
>
>
>
>
>
> Tony Greiner
>
>
>
> ?No human culture is inaccessible to someone who makes the effort to
> understand, to learn, to inhabit another world?- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
>
>
>
> Novels with a protagonist of one race or culture written by an author of
> another race or culture:
>
>
>
> Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck: *Tortilla Flat*; *The Pearl.*
>
>
>
> Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck: *Good Earth, and *others. Buck has also been
> a target of race-based criticism, but she spoke Cantonese, and her work has
> been praised by Anchee Min. There is a statue of her in Nanjing, China.
>
>
>
> Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. *Remains of the Day. *
>
>
>
> David Guterson. *Snow Falling on Cedars*. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner
> award for Fiction, 1995.
>
>
>
> Dubose Heyward. *Porgy. *Praised by Langston Hughes, who said that
> Heyward's brings "with his white eyes, wonderful, poetic qualities in the
> inhabitants of Catfish Row that makes them come alive." This book is the
> basis for George Gershwin?s opera ?Porgy and Bess.? "Porgy and Bess" has
> had some criticism, but was also praised by Duke Ellington and recorded by
> many black jazz musicians. Gershwin?s will stipulates that the opera may
> only be produced with a black cast.
>
>
>
> James Patterson. A series of detective novels featuring Alex Cross.
>
>
>
> James Baldwin. Short Story: ?The Man Child.?
>
>
>
> Ann Petry. *Country Place*. Petry isn?t well known now, but her first
> novel, *The Street,* (set in Harlem) was the first novel by an
> African-American woman to sell 1,000,000 copies.
>
>
>
> Richard Wright. *Savage Holiday*. Wright?s novel about an insurance
> executive has no black characters.
>
>
>
> Zora Neale Hurston. *Seraph on the Suwanee*. This novel looks at the life
> of poor white ?crackers? in Florida.
>
>
>
> Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Dunbar, better known as a poet, had two novels with
> only white characters, *The Uncalled *(1898) and *The Love of Landry *(1900)
> a western.
>
>
>
>
>
> **tony_greiner at hotmail.com**
>
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------------------------------
Message: 13
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2020 19:24:19 +0000
From: Marci Jenkins <Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
To: Candise Branum <cbranum at ocom.edu>
Cc: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>,
"libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us"
<libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
Message-ID: <b054e9b7f0964702be841a69585bd4dc at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Thank you Candice for elaborating so well! Thanks other colleagues that point out the book is circulating for the public that would like to read it.
I just would like to add, this discussion with the particular book publisher actually resulted in a plan of action. The Latinx coalition involved in this process was heard and looks like the concerns/issues will be addressed in the near future.
Please, let?s not objectify people of color claims to mere anger and retaliation.
Marci Ramiro-Jenkins
From: Candise Branum [mailto:cbranum at ocom.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2020 11:04 AM
To: Marci Jenkins <Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
Cc: Tony Greiner <tony_greiner at hotmail.com>; libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] "American Dirt" and the Social Justice Warriors
This message originated outside of the City of McMinnville.
________________________________
Thank you, Marci. The biggest crux of this issue really seemed to be around the fact that this book was billed as a diverse and authentic voice, the money that backed its publication and profits, and the inability for publishers to offer even a splinter of these types of opportunities to brown authors. As Diedre pointed out, the #DignidadLiteraria & Presente.org<http://Presente.org> could potentially be great thing that comes out of all of this.
This is an incredibly bad take on a nuanced controversy, and the use of the phrase "Social Justice Warriors" to demean writers of color who have been systematically shut out of the publishing industry (and were not threatening the writer but voicing their dissatisfaction) is very telling.
Candise Branum
Director of Library Services
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM)
503-253-3443 x134<tel:(503)%20253-3443> | 75 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR 97209<https://maps.google.com/?q=75+NW+Couch+Street,+Portland,+OR+97209&entry=gmail&source=g> | library.ocom.edu<https://library.ocom.edu/>
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Want to donate? Check out our book wishlist<http://a.co/7TjGlRX>
On Tue, Feb 4, 2020 at 10:51 AM Marci Jenkins <Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov<mailto:Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>> wrote:
Mr. Greiner
This was not a matter of censorship, nobody was trying to silence the author. This is a matter of lack of equal opportunities in the publishing industry and Latinx representation. Minimizing this context to censorship and nothing but speculation.
Marci Ramiro-Jenkins
Reference Librarian/Latinx Outreach Coordinator
McMinnville Public Library
503-435-5568
[librarybanner]
More information about the Libs-Or
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