Marlon James calls for action on diversity instead of just talk
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Version 0 of 1. Marlon James, the author of the Booker-winning A Brief History of Seven Killings, has said that it’s “time to stop talking” about diversity, arguing that “it’s not for the black person to be more open-minded. It’s for the white person to be less racist.” In an essay posted on the Literary Hub on Thursday, the Jamaican novelist suggests that “we too often mistake discussing diversity for doing anything constructive about it”, with the same points raised on panels about diversity year after year. Imagining the outrage that would greet an all-white panel discussion of diversity, James asks: “Why do we need a black person on a panel to talk about inclusion when it’s the white person who needs to figure out how to include?” The fact the books industry is still having diversity panels, he continues, “not only means that we continue to fail, but the false sense of accomplishment in simply having one is deceiving us into thinking that something was tried”. Writers of colour, he says, are invited to talk on panels, “as if by getting Claudia Rankine to talk about diversity one has accomplished something”. “You would think our sole purpose as writers at these panels is to broaden the understanding of white people, when we could, you know, talk about writing,” he writes. “It’s not for the black person to be more open-minded. It’s for the white person to be less racist. It’s not for the trans person to prove why she needs to use the female bathroom. It’s for the bigot to stop attacking trans people. The problem with me coming to the table to talk about diversity is the belief that I have some role to play in us accomplishing it, and I don’t.” The author Nikesh Shukla said the situation was similar in the UK, where last year’s Writing the Future study found that “an old mono-culture” prevails in publishing. “People are so desperate for things to change, but we don’t want diversity panels, we don’t want to just talk about it,” said Shukla, who edited a recent anthology of essays about race by BAME writers, The Good Immigrant, and has pushed for change in the UK. “But diversity is the wrong word – diversity is the celebration of otherness, often filtered through a cis white male perspective. And I don’t want to be celebrated for what makes me different.” Shukla said that, like James, he “very much hopes we can stop being short-sighted about diversity, and get to the point where writers can just be writers”. He pointed to this week’s Frankfurt book fair, where he said that amid a host of announcements about newly acquired books, “barely any are for BAME writers”. “I feel the will is there for change, but the reality is that in order for true diversity to happen, the gatekeepers and commissioners need to step aside,” he said. “The thing about all this is that we can have the debates and have the panels, and I will still wake up brown tomorrow. I live it every day of my life. White people debate diversity – I live it. And I don’t want to be the subject of debate – I want to be included ... Marlon has got a really good point. Why are we still talking about it? The time for talking or debating or panelising is done. Let’s do something about it.” |