Still Too White: Barnes & Noble Cancels ‘Race Switch’ Classic Novels
Steve Watson, Summit News, February 6, 2020
The Diverse Editions event at our @BNFifthAvenue location originally scheduled for this evening has been cancelled. Please see our statement: pic.twitter.com/jGquff9MyM
— Barnes & Noble (@BNBuzz) February 5, 2020
This fake diversity nonsense (where they replace white characters with people of color) is disgusting. It is not sincere or a solution. NEW STORIES BY PEOPLE OF COLOR ABOUT PEOPLE OF COLOR is the solution.
WE get to tell OUR stories!
Stop USING us and GET OUT OF THE WAY! https://t.co/vtQYHQBfzj
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) February 5, 2020
What?!? No! Is it really this hard? People sat down & had meetings & put a lot of energy & money into creating covers f/black people on books w/ the same old stories INSTEAD of promoting books written by black authors & featuring black characters?WTF?! 😡 https://t.co/sgGGglaiNu
— Tracey Livesay (@tlivesay) February 5, 2020
Can you imagine a young Black girl seeing a cover with someone who looks like her but then finds nothing that reflects her in the pages? No Black girls at all? Y’all that is more than a bait and switch. That’s harmful.
— Karen Strong (@KarenMusings) February 5, 2020
{snip}
Barnes & Noble has cancelled a line of ‘diversity edition’ classic novels because critics complained they were not woke enough.
The range, slated to coincide with Black History Month, features covers of characters like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, but with the protagonist wearing a turban, Frankenstein’s Monster with brown skin rather than green.
{snip}
However, the fad was quickly shot down by critics because the classic novels themselves are unchanged beyond the cover.
{snip}
