## Racism, revisionist history and white entitlement

I want to talk about racism, revisionist history and white entitlement. Specifically, as it relates to publishing, but also as a wider conversation.

One of the narratives that is regularly pushed in conversations about systemic racism is this idea that Black people owe white Americans because their ancestors fought to end slavery. Now, obviously, that's nonsense. But I want to talk about it, because despite us knowing that it's nonsense, a lot of people actually do feel that way when it comes down to it. They may not reference slavery specifically, but they are quick to point out all of the ways that they, their parents, and other white people, have stepped in to push progress forward.

I want to have a very honest conversation about that idea. Not because I think white people are never on the right side of history, but because I think we have a misconstrued idea of how liberation happens.

The uncomfortable truth is, white Americans are not responsible for Black liberation. They are not responsible for the end of slavery. Nor are they responsible for the victories of the civil rights movement or any push for liberation that has happened since. Did they participate in those movements? Absolutely. But if we are being honest, we would have to acknowledge that the primary reason white Americans began moving toward the right side of history was because Black people forced them to.

I promise all of this will relate to publishing, bear with me.

In school, we learn about Abraham Lincoln's efforts to end slavery and the resulting war that officially ended the practice. But what is ignored are the centuries of Black people forcing the issue. The many rebellions where enslaved Black people fought against their own oppression with no one in their corner. The activists who were slaughtered in their quest for understanding. The poets and singers and writers who shoved our story into the faces of white Americans and demanded that they not look away. What is ignored is the way that civil rights leaders not only demanded freedom, but forced their oppressors to kill them in the open, instead of behind closed doors, thereby forcing every day white Americans to SEE the consequences of their inaction and actually feel the weight of their complicity.

Yes, white Americans participated in liberation movements, but only after being liberated from the ignorant and bigoted worldview that they would have otherwise spent the rest of their lives forcing on their children.

Black liberation has always come at the cost of Black blood and been won because of the efforts of Black people.

Why does that matter for our conversations about publishing (and the world that we live in)?

Because, just like every other conversation about systemic barriers, we are surrounded by people who are expecting us to cater to--and be grateful to--white readers who are "creating change", when in reality, it is once again Black art that is forcing the rest of our society to wake up to just how limited the world they are building really is.

We have spent years demanding better from an industry that feels that our call for change is actually ungrateful whining. We see this every day. Not just in the way that major publishers refuse to meaningfully support their Black authors, but also in the way that readers respond whenever we ask them to consider the way they consume literature. When we challenge racism in their favorite books, we are too woke. When we ask them to consider adding Black books to their TBR, we are being discriminatory. When we suggest that there are genres and tropes that lean into anti-blackness, we are taking reading too seriously. At every opportunity, white readers are pointing to successful Black authors as proof that things have changed and demanding that we be grateful that we are even allowed in the spaces they built for themselves.

And I am not saying any of this because I do not appreciate white readers, or white people. I do. Greatly. I appreciate every single person who invests in this community and who invests in the authors I care so much about. The point I am trying to make is that the progress we are after has always been in our own hands. There is not coming a point where these major publishers wake up and realize that it is in their best interests to give Black authors their focus and resources. Because unfortunately, it's not really in their best interests. Literature has a significant impact on the development of our society and like all other massive corporations, it is in these publishers best interest to focus on art that doesn't push society toward dismantling the systems that keep capitalism on its throne.

This may sound dramatic but take a few minutes to think about it. Capitalism has not always been the driving motivation behind art. And it still isn't for most artists. But for major publishers to maintain their power, it has to be a driving force for them. Which means the industry, as it stands, will always resist any type of progress that challenges systemic oppression. **_Because capitalism will not survive the actual liberation of marginalized people._**

This is one of the reasons I am so focused on the particular conversations that I regularly have. Because a lot of us don't realize just how high the stakes are. Creating space for Black authors doesn't just affect Black authors. Because in order to achieve that, we have to challenge systemic barriers that keep money in very rich people's pockets and keep _everyone_ from progress.

I think if there's one thing I want you to take away from this particular blog it is that systemic racism is not arbitrary. These companies aren't resisting Black progress because they don't like Black books. It is not even because they don't like Black people. It is because Black progress threatens the structures that empower everyone else. And this is important to recognize because you will often encounter people who believe they love Black people but will still never sacrifice their power to dismantle the systems that oppress us all.

Now, I want to be clear, it is not only Black people who are forced to face systemic barriers in this industry, or in other areas of our country/world. Indigenous people and other people of color also face these barriers. As do queer people, women, disabled people, etc. The list goes on. Systemic barriers affect many of us in one way or another. But I am talking specifically about Black liberation because that is my experience and because historically, Black liberation has opened the door for others to win their own freedoms as well. I care about progress for all of us.

In publishing, specifically, I am convinced that progress is going to require us shifting our efforts from pressuring major publishers to work against their own agenda to empowering Black (and other marginalized) people to successfully create our own spaces. And more importantly, our own spaces that are built from different motivations. Because Black capitalism also won't save us.

For us to bring change to this industry (and the society it influences), we have to develop a model for publishing that is about something other than winning the spoils of being successful at capitalism.

# So what fuels **_us?_**

When I launched **_Left Unread_,** my primary goal was to create space for Black and brown authors. And that is still my primary goal. But the _why_ is what I want to talk about.

I believe that literature, like all art, has the ability to deeply impact the fabric of society. Throughout history, literature has worked to reinforce ideologies that have shaped the world as we know it. Books have played a role in both liberating and oppressing societies. They have shaped the way we view the world and the rules we apply to it. Religion, politics, liberation movements, oppressive regimes... they all rely on the writer's pen to unite and to divide. And while there are aspects of that kind of devotion to the written word that are fueled by classism and white supremacy, art itself has _always_ played a role in giving society its bones. Which terrifies me for the world we currently live in, where our society's most marginalized are systemically prevented from being fairly represented on bookshelves.

For me, **_Left Unread_** is less about our individual successes and more about challenging the barriers that keep Black and brown people from using our voices to contribute to the direction of the society we live in. I firmly believe that any society without adequate access to marginalized voices in ALL of the arts will almost certainly fall prey to every system of oppression our world was built to uphold.

Over the last six months I have had many people ask how I can still be focused on books while the world is crumbling and the truth is, I am determined to make a difference in this industry precisely _because_ the world is crumbling. Fighting for the arts matters and that is why this community matters so much to me.

With that said, I hope that my thoughts here have made sense. And as always, I want you to be a part of everything we are fighting for as a community. There are a few ways that you can be a part!