Racism: Dead or Alive?

Okay, let’s get real. Yes, it exists and thriving amid seemingly subtle vestiges of the status quo. Racism amid the literati is a hot topic nowadays and with good reason. Quite a few authors are grousing over situations where equal parity is nothing more than an afterthought. Authors Gwyneth Bolden and Donna Hill touched on this subject recently in an online article from BLOGGING IN BLACK http://blogginginblack.com, as well as the many comments that were elicited by it. The former initiated it in her superb ‘Publishing While Black’ article, and the latter gave good commentary that rang true in seconding the motion. We should not forget how and where lines of demarcation are drawn up all around us in life. We see the old guard maintain bastions of authority in all levels of society, the literary field notwithstanding. For all intended purposes, the bottom line can be traced to control and boardroom entrepreneurship. To fully understand this, know that just like any other analogy, one should readily attribute bias attitudes to societal mores as it has always pertained to people of color. The emanations are the same.

As writers and authors striving to allow the craft to serve us well, we shouldn’t have to take a back seat to no one striving for the same sense of notoriety where expertise should be warranted with the aforementioned equal parity, and a chance to bask side by side. After all, a good book is just that – a good book no matter who wrote it, and what ethnic background they hail from. Hard work and perseverance is par for any course. The book industry has some hard lessons to acknowledge allowing change to challenge equal playing fields. One can pointedly look at the times and know that the aforementioned old guard syndrome permanently changed shifts 25 years ago dislodging the ‘ole boy’ network and putting a chink in the armor of institutionalized racism, smacking segregation squarely in the face.

But did they really? We know that gone are the days of segregated buses, but racism in my mind has not fully disappeared and is just as prevalent but with a sophisticated veneer that’s shining with blinding effect. We look around us and the books that are written by those that looks like you, and possibly live where you live are all being circulated within the same Diaspora. Not enough ‘other folk’ are taking us seriously enough to evoke acceptance outside of their sphere of influence and comfort. White folk plain and simple are not reading our books in greater proportion to suggest that any perceived amount of racism is not prevalent. They don’t gravitate in the same places you do, they haven’t invited you to dinner lately, and they just might plant that proverbial ‘for sale’ sign so readily available to them in their front yards should you decide to live among them. Mention any bastion of unequaled machination where biased intent is evident through your eyes, and you will get a denial, perhaps a shifting of weight, and always there will be the ‘my best friends are Black’ adage that is just as worn as the idea that spawned it.

We know too, that some people might want to segregate because of different interest – I will give that to them, especially if compatibility is so far removed from any compassioned compromise to adapt beyond reasonable doubt on their parts. Others might even have been raised to consider another group inferior, and we definitely know that this premise exists; and some are actually working to stop segregation. But the question remains: When will literary racism disappear? We cannot purport for chance to challenge change if we continue to accept the separateness in the industry.