Tayari's Blog: Bloomsbury's Latest Whitewash

Posted by TayariJones on January 19, 2010 04:13 PM
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Last year,all hell broke loose after Bloomsbury put a white model on the cover of a book with a black protagonist. (The case was resolved when they put a light-skinned woman on the cover, eventhough the character is described as dark with a short afro.) You would think that after that embarassment, they would be more sensitive. Well, I guess that's what we get for thinking.

Bloomsbury has done it again with Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore so Kate Harding righteously puts them on BLAST.

So really, publishers, if you're so convinced that a book with a dark-skinned heroine won't sell unless readers are tricked into thinking she's white, then just be honest about all of it -- admit that you don't want to risk publishing books about characters of color. Admit that white people are the only audience you really care about. Admit that you don't give a tiny rat's ass about that adolescent girl walking through a bookstore, trying to find a story about someone who looks like her and learning --probably for the umpteenth time that day -- that only white people can be pretty or interesting. But if you're not ready to admit all that, then you need to be putting people of color on covers where appropriate and supporting those books with real publicity and marketing budgets, so they stand a chance of not fulfilling your prophecy of doom

Read the rest, and leave a comment to let Salon know you appreciate this kind of work.

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There are 1 comments on "Bloomsbury's Latest Whitewash". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.

Comment #1, by Karen Strong [TypeKey Profile Page]

Hi Tayari:

As a YA writer of color it is very frustrating to see this happen (again). And it's very interesting how some in the YA/kidlit blogosphere are trying to say that book covers really don't matter -- it's the story on the inside that really counts.

I wish that this was true.

This is not an issue of having a model with the wrong color eyes, hair, etc. It's a drastic misrepresentation of the protagonist.

It's hard enough for kids and teens of color to see themselves in the bookstore as it is.

And let's not blame the author. She wrote a magical fantasy about a multicultural girl. Unfortunately, that is now taken a backseat to the misrepresented cover.

My hope is that even with these issues, more writers of color create stories for kids and teens so that they can see themselves reflected between the pages.

January 19, 2010 10:41 PM

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