I went to Literature and did not see me. I went to Contemporary Fiction and did not find me, but when I fell back a couple of steps I found a section called African American Studies and there, arranged alphabetically and neatly, read undisturbed, were four of my books including my Persians of which the only thing ostensibly African American was my jacket photograph. I became quickly irate, my pulse speeding up, my brow furrowing. Someone interested in African American Studies would have little interest in my books and would be confused by their presence in the section. Someone looking for an obscure reworking of a Greek tragedy would not consider looking in that section any more than the gardening section. The result in either case, no sale. That fucking store was taking food from my table.
- Erasure, Percival Everett
This month Carleen Brice’s blog, White Readers Meet Black Authors, asks readers to vote on the following question: “Should Bookstores Have a Section for African American Fiction?“
I say, NO. And I didn’t have to think twice about my answer. As of today, only 31% of those responding to Carleen’s poll agree with me. Most have mixed feelings. That’s okay. I used to be on the fence, too. But no longer. Today I summon the spirit of my forebearers who fought long and hard for an end to segregation in the days of Jim Crow. I lean forward like the fictitious Miss Jane Pittman into the cool, cleansing stream of a forbidden water fountain meant to divide the races. I call for bookshelves as mixed as my metaphors when I declare: Mr. Barnes & Mr. Noble, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!
It’s time we distinguish between the myths about the ways our bookstores should operate and confront the reality of how they actually do:
MYTH #1 The existence of an African-American Fiction section demonstrates my bookstore’s commitment to providing its readers with a range of black literature.
Years ago when my local Waldenbooks first began separating black fiction from the general fiction section, I spent hours kneeling in front of the shelves, loving the fact that the books I enjoyed had be given special treatment. Indeed, the sign above the books was more than just a sign; it was a celebration that legitimized the value of black writing. Today the signs are becoming the bookstore equivalent to all those streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr. — superficial gestures that do not always translate into a meaningful selection of material. Booksellers have become lazy, relying too much on the market boom in black urban, inspirational, and erotic fiction. I used to let the major stores off the hook for promoting “what sells,” but if this were true, then it seems to me that they would offer nothing but New York Times best-sellers, porn, and books about Elmo.
MYTH #2: The African-American Fiction section is the best place to find literature by or about black people.
This isn’t true and we all know it. As Carleen points out in a recent post, “What is a Black Novel?” good books are too often mis-categorized in the black section based on a faulty understanding of their content, while a superstar novelist like Toni Morrison, a British writer like Zadie Smith, and a white crime writer like Richard Price are typically allowed to mingle among the literary “general population.” Of course, categories and canons are always difficult to define. Zora Neale Hurston and James Baldwin sometimes wrote books featuring only white characters – where do they belong? And how does a African-American section engage the increasing globalization of black folks across the world? Our old identity politics are in desperate need of re-evaluation when it comes to books.
MYTH #3: By separating the books, the African-American Fiction section encourages readers who may not ordinarily pick up a book by a black author to do so.
I have serious doubts about this claim, although I would like to be proven wrong. I just don’t think that the narrow offerings in a section shaped solely by race will help to attract new readers in the same way that a genre-based selection process would. If I’m a fan of vampire fantasy, for instance, I’d appreciate a bookstore that shelves the L.A Banks “Vampire Huntress Legends” series alongside Laurell K. Hamilton and Anne Rice. I worry that the African-American Fiction section discourages readers from doing their homework, just as they would for any other genre by nurturing an interest in black literature one book at a time. The large bookstore chains need to put their efforts into table displays and endcaps that reflect the diverse offerings of the entire store, rather than letting a bookshelf sign do all the work. (I should pause here to acknowledge that smaller, independent bookstores often avoid these pitfalls due, in part, to a more knowledgeable staff and better familiarity with their customer’s needs.)
The “Bottom” Line:
My argument, in other words, is this: all works by and about black people should be integrated into sections categorized by genre right along with everything else. While the African American Fiction section may have been created in good faith to highlight the wide range of works by black writers, the shelves today reflect a narrow and constricting view of this literature that actually discourages reader interest and stifles more complex representational diversity.
Now that I’ve made my case, I encourage to you travel over the Carleen’s blog and participate in this month’s poll. Or write a response or rebuttal of your own! I’m eager to talk with others who have an opinion about the matter, even if we don’t agree.
Now for a rousing chorus of We Shall Overcome…
Posted by Carleen on March 5, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Yay! Thanks Claudia for participating and carrying the discussion forward. One clarification is that B&N doesn’t have Af Am fiction sections. Surprised me too! Borders does and stands by it as an effective way to market books to readers.
Posted by susan on March 5, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Claudia,
I was on the fence, but I will say after reading your post, I’m ready to join your camp. Your argument about a failure to recognize the diversity of what black writers write just makes too much sense.
Thanks for making succint points on why the sections don’t work.
Posted by Claudia on March 5, 2009 at 7:56 AM
@Carleen: You’re right, I appreciate the clarification. Books-A-Million and Waldenbooks still maintain separate sections as well.
@Susan: Hey, another convert! Glad to share my picket sign with you.
Posted by Liza on March 5, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Many many (many) years ago I separated my personal library into books written by men and books written by women. Shock of shocks – the By Men shelves held about three or four times more books that the By Women. It was a clarifying moment . I then made it a point to buy mostly books by women. My partner at the time (Alix Dobkin) even wrote a song including this verse:
Liza wishes the library
Had men and women placed separately.
For theirs is the kingdom,
And she knows who’ll she’ll find
in the history of mankind.
But… it was a consciousness raising tool for me at the time. It made me really think about the unequal writing and publishing opportunities between male and female authors. Or gay and straight (identified) or black and white.
I don’t mind going into B&N and seeing the Lesbian/Gay section, or the Black History Section, or the Jewish section, or even the travel section. I often browse by subject. But those books are arranged by topic, not the color, gender or sexual identity of the author.
Ideally, for me, bookstores like B&N would have enough copies of books to put the same books in Women’s history and History. Or Black history and American or World history. Or even travel fiction in fiction.
And, for a huge surprise, why not have a section for books by White Male authors. If nothing else, it would clarify who had the lion’s share of the market. The idea of Black fiction, however, is ridiculous. Or women’s fiction. That’s not a genre, it’s just segregation.
Posted by Claudia on March 5, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Ideally, for me, bookstores like B&N would have enough copies of books to put the same books in Women’s history and History. Or Black history and American or World history. Or even travel fiction in fiction.
This is an EXCELLENT point, Liza. “Cross-shelving” like this would be ideal. I also think you raise a great point about how separating the books forces us to confront the issue of unequal representation on the shelves – I wish bookstores would do this more often in their purchasing decisions, but we know that they don’t. You’ve made me want to take a look at my own shelves to see where the “weak spots” are!
Posted by Carleen on March 5, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Cross-shelving is the Holy Grail. But stores don’t cross-shelve all books, and I’d bet they’d discontinue the AfAm section before they’d do that.
Posted by Doret on March 5, 2009 at 3:54 PM
I voted no, as well, the way the results are turning out I was tempted to vote no 5 more times but I won’t. (At least Yes is in a distant 3rd) The seperate section for African American Fiction is pointless now. It is not bringing over non black readers, and even if they came they wouldn’t stay its a hotmess with all of that urban and street lit. Its also a crutch for many Black readers, who won’t step out of their own experience to read something else. Just because your Black doesn’t mean you can only read Black authors. Maybe if African American fiction isn’t seperate anymore white readers will discover Black authors and Black readers will discover non Black authors.
Posted by Claudia on March 5, 2009 at 4:33 PM
***standing up applauding*** Preach, Doret!
Posted by Lisa Kenney on March 6, 2009 at 12:27 AM
Like a lot of readers, I didn’t even know books by African American authors were shelved in a separate section…and as it turns out, sometimes they are and sometimes they’re not, depending on the book store. I can definitely say, I’d have bought far more books by African American authors over the years in places like Borders if I’d actually had the chance to see them. Like the vast majority of contemporary fiction readers (I assume), I hit the front tables and new fiction sections routinely and often don’t look anywhere else.
Posted by Claudia on March 6, 2009 at 7:28 AM
Hi Lisa, thanks for stopping by the site! I often browse the bookstore the same way, but every once in a while, I’ll wander through the general fictions shelves just to see what’s out there. Too often the black books become “out of sight, out of mind.”
Posted by Zetta Elliott on March 6, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Let me just start by saying how much I *love* Erasure–brilliant, hilarious book (soon to be made into a film directed by Angela Bassett?). I don’t buy that many books, but haven’t really seen a separate section for black fiction–Black Studies is its own academic field, and deserves its own section–but fiction is fiction, period. I do often wonder, however, how I’d feel if my local library removed the neon green stickers that adhere to books deemed of “Black Interest.” Those stickers definitely guide me down the aisles, and there are many books I never would have found without them. I’ve often thought about doing a performance art piece with similar stickers–give 100 black people ten green stickers and turn them loose on the world: what DOES interest black folks?
Posted by Claudia on March 6, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Oh man, I think I may have to start another post just on Erasure alone and how – oh how – will Angela Bassett translate it to the screen?!?!
Zetta, you raise a great point about those stickers and after receiving all this feedback, I’m starting to falter in my unequivocal assessment… I still believe that the idea of the separate section is a good one and canbe very helpful to interested readers new and old. But I think that the major chains these days have an increasingly narrow definition of “Black Interest” which makes the implementation of the section worth less (not worthless, just worth less – ha ha).
I love your performance piece idea. That would be so cool.
Posted by Ms. P on March 6, 2009 at 7:53 PM
my students are a fan of your blog :)
Posted by Claudia on March 6, 2009 at 8:11 PM
Thanks, Ms. P! And thanks also to your awesome students!
Posted by NaySue on March 7, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Great post, you really debunked a few myths I’d excepted as truths.
Maybe what we should all do is just support more black bookstores. At least there we know that our black authors are properly sorted by subject areas and genres. I’m certain they need our business.
Posted by Claudia on March 7, 2009 at 5:43 PM
@NaySue – you’re right and this is something I should have mentioned too! I no longer live near a black bookstore (one of the few reasons why I miss Atlanta) but I know that many of them struggle for business and deserve our support.
Posted by susan on March 9, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Doret,
I hear you and Zetta, I think you’re right, too. In the library, I like the neon signs. In the bookstore, I’m with Doret and Claudia. It doesn’t work. Places that have the luxury of cross-shelving are few. The Black interest section is a joke that isn’t funny. Hell, I find so many books now through blogs and online providers that I am shocked at how limited offerings are when I walk in the bookstore.
And yes, most times when I’m in the bookstore and library I make suggestions, politely of course.
Posted by Angie on March 11, 2009 at 4:10 PM
More applause for the Erasure quote. :D I just read that one a couple of nights ago (and stayed up until about 10am doing it [laugh/flail]) and that particular chunk stuck in my head too. Definitely apt when discussing this issue.
I think there’s a difference between an “African American Lit” section and an “African American Studies” section. The former would contain fiction by Black authors while the latter would be more non-fiction — history, social justice, race issues, that sort of thing. I definitely see value in having a separate area for the latter, but the former quickly becomes problematic. However you define that shelf, it seems there’ll be books there whose main audience would be elsewhere (as shown when Monk is confused and angry at finding his Persians there), or books which might well be of interest to Black readers (books with Black main characters by white authors, for example) which maybe should be there but aren’t.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but seeing that quote, I had to comment. :) I hadn’t heard they were making a movie of it — that’s awesome, assuming it translates well. I’ll keep a set of virtual fingers crossed for Angela Bassett being as good a director as she is an actor.
Angie
Posted by Claudia on March 11, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Welcome Angie! Thanks for your response. I tried to be careful to limit my tirade to “Fiction” and not “Studies” just for the great reasons you mentioned. And I’m so glad to find another fan of Erasure – Naysue @ Black girl lost…in a Book recently shared the news that his next book is coming out very soon. It’s called I am not Sidney Poitier. Should be interesting!