Here's the controversy: Some bookstores have a section devoted to African American fiction. Some don't.
On the positive side, having such a section makes it easy for people to find fiction by black authors. With white authors holding such a huge majority of books published, it can be hard to find diversely-authored books mixed in among the rest.
On the negative side, having such a section makes it easy for people to inadvertently ignore fiction by black authors. With white readers holding such a huge majority of, well, the population--it can be hard for black authors to find a readership among the majority if their books are stuck away in a corner of the bookstore with the other "black-people books."
And, what the heck are "black-people books," anyway? Anything written by a black author who hasn't been on Oprah yet?
Carleen's got a poll going, over in the sidebar of White Readers Meet Black Authors: Should bookstores have a section for African American fiction? Make your opinion known!
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2 comments:
I voted. I have mixed feelings for the issues you raised. If you're well read and seek diversity in your reading habits, it doesn't matter where the books, you where and who you're looking for, but when I'm trying to recommend a person of color, particularly a black author, I am hesitant to send readers to the AA section because it is limited in themes and styles, and I worry that a newbie won't know what to pick.
Bookstores have limited shelf space and target sales to meet. In the niche sections like AA and YA books, you'll usually find only the products that are moving and that doesn't lend itself too much diversity in the number of authors or themes among the books.
I think that book stores should at least have an ethnic catagory and have authors from around the world.
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