We hope everyone had a great President’s Day! The month of February has been filled with some fascinating diversity-related stories. Here are just a few that we’ve been following; if you’ve got more February news stories, feel free to share them in the comments below!
In our December e-news, we took a look at how 2011 has played out in terms of diversity with a few events of note:
Good: We started Tu Books! Which means more diversity in science fiction, fantasy, and mystery.
Authors Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo organized the Diversity in YA tour and website to highlight diverse books and authors, and got a terrific response from readers.
This past weekend some guy called me a gook. What was surprising is it happened right in my hometown. I have lived in my town for five years now and have never had any problems with racism. This came out of the blue and was totally unprovoked. I was on my way to pick up Indian takeout for my family’s dinner.
There were so many things out of the ordinary about this incident. The man who called me a gook was with his girlfriend and didn’t appear to be drunk. In the past, racist insults usually have come from groups of young men, late at night, after consuming 6+ beers each. It wasn’t late; it was around seven o’clock in the evening. And the part about the guy being with his girlfriend is significant because usually a person tries to conceal the less than desirable parts of his or her personality, like being racist, at least until after the third date.
Some of you may have seen this new anti-racism poster campaign coming out of Ohio State University, put together by one of their student organizations:
A couple months ago I made a discovery. It all started when I noticed the lenses on my sunglasses were badly scratched and beyond repair. I have worn Oakley sunglasses for years. While browsing the Oakley website I stumbled upon Asian Fit Sunglasses. I was surprised and wary since I had never seen a product so specific in targeting an ethnic group. The product description was very brief. It looked like Oakley copywriters went for the “less is more” approach because they did not want to accidentally commit anything to print that might be construed as offensive. I decided to order a pair. The risk was minimal since I had never been dissatisfied with Oakley sunglasses before. Besides, I was curious to see if I was missing out on something.
In addition to loving to read, I am a big movie buff. I make it a point to introduce my 10-year-old son to some of the films that were my favorites when I was growing up. Once in a while, we come across some scenes in a film that are somewhat offensive. This happened when we were watching the 1975 classic
The Return of the Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers. The moment occurred after a scene in which Clouseau is ambushed by his Chinese servant, Kato, resulting in the total destruction of Clouseau’s apartment. Later, Clouseau is talking to a co-worker at police headquarters about the incident, and he refers to Kato in several derogatory and racist terms. My son instantly turned to me and exclaimed, “Hey, that’s racist!”
Welcome to a pre-holiday edition of This Week in Diversity!
We’re starting out at Feministe, where a poster asks for advice on dealing with racist relatives during the holidays. There’s a wealth of advice and shared experiences in the comments. Whether you need the advice, have some to offer, or just like reading about thoughtful, open-minded people trying their best, it’s worth a read.
This week, we have a moving documentary about the distinction made based on skin color, even within a single culture or ethnic group. It’s long, but it’s worth watching the whole thing, from the interview with a four-year-old girl to the academic perspectives of professors.
from Nicole Tadgell's "No Mush Today"
This weekend, The NYU Institute of African American Affairs hosted the A is for Anansi Conference on Literature for Children of African Descent. It was a great conference and I was thrilled to be a part of it – it’s always exciting to be in a room full of people who care about books, kids, and social justice issues. A few of the highlights I caught:
Author and publisher Andrea Davis Pinkney started things off with a good news/bad news keynote, sharing a few reasons why some say we are in a “Golden Age of African American Children’s Literature” – a new generation of talented authors and illustrators, more award recognition, etc. – but also shared these dismal numbers that tell us that the number of books by/about people of color has not increased at all since 1994. 1994! In other words, we’ve got our work cut out for us.
I spoke next on a panel about publishing/selling literature about children of African descent. Just Us Books owner Cheryl Willis Hudson moderated, and agent and former bookseller Joe Monti started off with some anecdotes about the resistance big book buyers have to selling covers with people of color. Ultimately, he said, he doesn’t believe race really makes a difference in sales. “A good cover will sell books, and a bad one won’t,” he said.
been following; if you’ve got more February news stories, feel free to share them in the comments below!
