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Re: Latino books & lack thereof
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From: Christine Taylor-Butler <kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:18:06 -0600
No,
That is always the default position and it doesn't go to the heart of the matter. All it does is open the playing field for authors who already hold a competitive advantage in other venues without leveling the playing field in other award categories for people who have been historically left out.. The situation is then made worse by acquisitions committees bereft of the cultural knowledge that would insure the books were culturally accurate.
What has to change is the entire landscape. If authors and illustrators of color were taken seriously in major award categories (And I don't mean routinely choosing from a stable of "safeties" with already established names) then I'd agree. But what is happening now is that books written BY people of color would simply be replaced by those written by people who are not. THAT right now is the publishing model and preference already.
One need only look at CBCC's own statistics showing the historical trends of publishers preferring non ethnic content creators over ethnic ones to know that fixing the problem means demanding more visibility in mainstream categories.
Of a 3000+ sample - nearly half of books abut Latinos were written by people who weren't. Nearly two thirds of books written by African Americans were written by people who were not. And four out of five books about Native Americans were written by people who were not.
Appalling how little change we've seen over the last ten years based on the chart in this link. Changing the rules without changing the problem and pattern of behavior is like saying "let's gentrify the inner city so we can feel good without integrating the suburbs.……..Christine
On Feb 7, 2013, at 1:16 PM, Ruth I. Gordon wrote:
Jason Low's comment goes to the heart of the matter helping to explain, in part, the lack of Latino/Hispanic books. There are several other awards with equal restrictions, thus, perhaps, depriving readers of worthy subjects. Perhaps it is time for the requirements to be revisited.
Big Grandma (Ruth I. Gordon)
Received on Thu 07 Feb 2013 02:18:06 PM CST
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:18:06 -0600
No,
That is always the default position and it doesn't go to the heart of the matter. All it does is open the playing field for authors who already hold a competitive advantage in other venues without leveling the playing field in other award categories for people who have been historically left out.. The situation is then made worse by acquisitions committees bereft of the cultural knowledge that would insure the books were culturally accurate.
What has to change is the entire landscape. If authors and illustrators of color were taken seriously in major award categories (And I don't mean routinely choosing from a stable of "safeties" with already established names) then I'd agree. But what is happening now is that books written BY people of color would simply be replaced by those written by people who are not. THAT right now is the publishing model and preference already.
One need only look at CBCC's own statistics showing the historical trends of publishers preferring non ethnic content creators over ethnic ones to know that fixing the problem means demanding more visibility in mainstream categories.
Of a 3000+ sample - nearly half of books abut Latinos were written by people who weren't. Nearly two thirds of books written by African Americans were written by people who were not. And four out of five books about Native Americans were written by people who were not.
Appalling how little change we've seen over the last ten years based on the chart in this link. Changing the rules without changing the problem and pattern of behavior is like saying "let's gentrify the inner city so we can feel good without integrating the suburbs.……..Christine
On Feb 7, 2013, at 1:16 PM, Ruth I. Gordon wrote:
Jason Low's comment goes to the heart of the matter helping to explain, in part, the lack of Latino/Hispanic books. There are several other awards with equal restrictions, thus, perhaps, depriving readers of worthy subjects. Perhaps it is time for the requirements to be revisited.
Big Grandma (Ruth I. Gordon)
Received on Thu 07 Feb 2013 02:18:06 PM CST
