Borders Book store has an African American Book section? why?......why not White section or mexican or indian?

Question

The reason i am putting up this post is because of the Tintin comic incident in Uk, I recently went to Borders Book Store and saw African American section! and i was just amazed to see that because everything in that section was for African Americans written by African Americans, and was just little surprised on why Borders would only have African American drama, suspense, romance etc and No other section for any other ethnicity.....Why Only African American why not also Chinese American, Caucasian, Indian, Mexican.......so i thought it was kind of unfair. And to be honest with you if we went through every race and segregated their work by ethnicity then wouldn't that be silly if a writer wrote a beautiful poem and it was placed in the hispanic section under poetry. Would that give his writing any credit or could it be made to public for all eyes to see not as a race but as a individual writer. ......whats your stand on this?

Answer 1

I understand the reason why there's an African-American section, but I am kind of put off by it. I'm black. When I'm looking for a book I really don't care what is the race of the author as long as the book is good. But I do understand why there is a black section. I very much doubt that many of the books in that section would really be read by non-blacks. I've read many books in that section. But at the same time I do see it as strange when there's a book by a Black author with an universal theme (such as anything by Walter Mosley, Zadie Smith, or Toni Morrison) and the book is only in that section. Especially if it's a classic. Even as a black person, it has taken me a moment or two to try to figure out why I couldn't find a particular book and then I had to think of the author's race, and go to the black section and get the book there. I don't know why there's not different sections for different races.

A white author's ethnicity or race is not going to be talk about when doing a biography or an interview with her. But if you are of color, whether black, or Chinese, or Mexican, your racial background is in the first paragraph. The person also gets judge by how much their work is deemed an asset to their race, especially if they win a prize. Authors of color are always deemed by their race, then their skill. A writer who is Caucausian is never ever said to be a Caucausian or a white writer. Race is not an issue.

I think it all boils down to a lot of black people wanting to read books about them and not having that option for so long. It's sad that even now in a lot of books written by people who are not black, there are none and very few people of color in them. (I love Harry Potter but there's only one black character in it.) When there is an absence of your race or people of color periosd as a person of color you do notice it.

I also think by not just referring to a writer as a writer who happens to be of color, but having to put their race first before you even say they are a writer (i.e. Mexican writer,) says a lot about that person who has to classify that other individual.

Answer 2

So long as we perceive that things in this world must be separated by differences instead of joined by likenesses, this reaction to segmentation will exist. In the case of the Tintin comic, I think that it is necessary to protect our children from subtle images which portray legitimate differences as tawdry or beneath us, but I think that the total elimination of all questionable attitudes from our children's lives is a very dangerous game to play. Children reading and having no one to discuss their opinions with and get feed back from is the real problem. Were a child to read this comic and have an adult talk about how sad it was that such and such felt thus and such it would not be an issue. Sterilization of literature and other arts is not the answer. Involvement of well balanced adults is. As for having an African American book section I see nothing wrong with it, since part of the beauty of differences is that different races and cultures have different and unique views as well as common ground with each other. There is nothing wrong with recognizing this as long as it is not done in a comparative way. Some people are white and some people are black and some people are in between and that's a fact. It doesn't have to be an issue any more than the fact that there are dogs and cats has to be. The problem comes in when people begin to compare and judge that something is less simply because it is different. In a truly non prejudicial society, Affican American would be just another category. And that is a good thing.

Answer 3

African American writing has become it's own (fairly broad) genre in literature and writing. There are often classes at most colleges and universities geared towards it. African Americans have created their own niche in the writing arena because they have their own style that is different from the writings of authors from other ethinicities. The same goes for authors from other ethnic groups, their writing is often just not as wide-spread - yet. My B&N (we don't have a Borders here) has a section (althought fairly small) for Hispanic authors. This is becoming a larger genre and will probably be the next section we all begin to see pop up in our book stores. I agree that segregating the literature in this was isn't really the best idea. It basically pinpoints one group of people instead of making your work readily available to everyone. People looking for a good piece of fiction are more likely to search the fiction section that the "Afican American" section or the "Hispanic" section.

On a side note, one of my very favorite authors is Paulo Coelho - a Brazillian author. Most of his works are translated into English, though, and are available in both the fiction section and the Hispanic section (even though he writes in Portugese...ha).

Edit:
We also have sections for Native American, Asian, Gay and Lesbian, etc. but they are mostly non-fiction books...not a selection of works written by people from those backgrounds.

Answer 4

My Borders does have a Latino section. But the reason there's a big African American section is basically economics. About eight years ago, marketing researchers found that Black people or African-Americans were starting to buy books in much greater numbers than before. Also, that there are lots more African-American writers than before. Basically, book stores and publishers go where the money is. Believe me, if there was market research that showed a huge increase in book purchases among Chinese-Americans who bought books by other Chinese-Americans, you'd see a section called 'Chinese-American' right away. As is often said in the U.S., "The color of money is GREEN."

Answer 5

Okay, first of all there are many books written by white people that only have white people in them. So many in fact that you don't have to search for them. Secondly, there are some African Americans that like to read about people like themselves. There are not as many of these books as the others. I would wager that Borders must have had several requests for these books and where to find them. So, in order to help those looking for these books, they put them all together in one section to make it easier to find. As far as a Chinese section or Mexican...I suppose if ther were a lot of these books they would put them in a section as well. I have been to book stores that simply have a multicultural section which included any book that focuses on any culture.

Answer 6

African-American books have their own section because the African-Americans had their own unique experiences and culture. They were taken from Africa, families were separated and sold into slavery, and they were forced to live under slavery until liberated by President Abraham Lincoln. Prejudice invaded their very existance, and some lives on, even to this day. African-American people have thier own section in the bookstore, but anyone may read their books!!!
There is so much of their own history, culture and art, that they deserve their own section. Their history is rich and long.

Answer 7

Its not by African Americans for African Americans.

Its by African Americans for anybody who wants to be able to find it easily.

Main reason for this is African Americans have produced a large body of work with some common themes and so it makes sense to group the authours together by origin and subject.

Just because a racial label is used doesnt mean the section is a ghetto.

Anybody bright enough to pick up the book is bright enough to see past the label.

Answer 8

Here in the SF/Bay Area they do have sections for Asian American books, Latino Books, Gay and Lesbian. According to the stores the publishers go out of their way to label the books as being for certain audiences so they make special sections to deal with them. I don't believe it should be that way either. Just put them on the shelves in alphabetical order and be done with it but I guess this makes shopping easier for the customer who knows what they want and just wants to grab it and go.

Answer 9

I have no idea.
Maybe, that being a more distinct and popular culture, they get their own section

Answer 10

hmmm...i never heard this before...i really don't know why...