By now most of you savvy members of the online romance community are aware of the stance the publishing industry maintains regarding not only African-American romance, but multicultural romance as well. However, after opening dialogue with a few unpublished African-American romance writers, the topic is rather thorny and a bit more nuanced than decrying the discriminatory practices that maintain the relatively homogeneous look of the romance genre.
A few years ago (2007 I believe), a group of black romance writers, galvanized by the surge of interest in and discussion of the segregation of AA romance, decided to form a writers’ organization to address their unique issues. I presume many either were not RWA members, or they felt the RWA was not amenable to forming a group of this type under the umbrella of the organization. Nonetheless, due to a variety of factors, the organization fizzled fairly quickly and as of today, I don’t sense a desire to form one again. Yet, is it truly in bad taste for AA romance writers to form a group within the RWA? Or to have a separate category for their work in writing contests like the GH or the RITA?
I would argue not. The 1896 ruling on Plessy v. Ferguson established the “separate, but equal” law that ruled race relations and the institute of segregation in this country for most of the 20th century. Under this decision, blacks and whites were given separate facilities for eating, drinking, traveling, and so on, with the assumption that that given to both were equal. Needless to say, they were not. Brown v. Board of Education overturned this ruling in 1954, and the result was the forced desegregation of all-white schools by bussing young black students to them.
We can see parallels to this moment in American history with the publishing industry. The first AA romance was published in the early 1980s, but it wasn’t until the early to mid 1990s that publishers realized they had a crowd of black readers, thirsty for romances featuring men and women who shared their heritage. However, during that drought–and it continues today–black romance fans were essentially bussed to the all-white publishing industry out of necessity. A number of AA romance veterans started their careers hiding behind their white characters, and it could be that some of our early romance novels were written by black women desiring to be the next Linda Howard or Rosemary Rogers, but forced to “write white” out of financial and market pressures.
Here we are in 2009 and the case of “separate, but equal” rules how AA romances are treated. And yet, I feel that the lack of categories for AA romance in major contests is a sort of ostrich move. It denies that there are separate factors black romance writers face on their path to publication, and it denies the fact that the publishing industry is not colorblind. After all, Christian/Inspirational romance writers face their own set of guidelines and separate factors for publication. I for one feel that acknowledging the issues romance writers of color face is the first step to understanding, and ultimately, supporting the inclusion of romance writers–and characters–of all colors, creeds, and nationalities into the romance genre.
No related posts.
I have to agree with some AA authors who say that separate shelving makes their books easier to find. At the same time, as a writer, I believe we need every possible avenue for exposure to possible readers. It’s just a fact that non-Black readers will not go to the AA section to look for a new book.
There is no special category at my book review blog. Most of the AA Romance I’ve reviewed has fallen into the Contemporary Romance category. Love is colorblind.
Difficult, I admit that I have no clue how the work of black writers might differ from others, or what sorts of problems they might face.
I guess it would make sense to have separate projects that encourage black writers (or muslim writers or such of any other minority/non mainstream group) to write for the mass market without feeling the need to hide their cultural heritage.
But what about authors like Terry McMillan, she seems to do pretty well in the mainstream market?
Hi Gerd,
Black writers tend to have their own imprints and editors for that imprint. I’ve heard stories of not only readers returning books with AA characters when the cover was race-neutral and that AA books entered into writing contests (like the RITA) have historically been ignored and shut out.
Terry McMillan is a whole ‘nother ballgame because while she showed that black women do read (as if they never do before!), it also pigeon-holed black writers regarding subject matter. Plus, can McMillan be held up as someone to aspire to when she is one of a few black writers who have attained mainstream success? It’s been almost fifteen years since Waiting to Exhale and in that interim, only one black romance writer has hit the NYT best-seller list (Brenda Jackson)–this year!
But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg…
AA romance is much more nuanced than simply having characters of a darker hue.
It’s about infusing the romance with the context and mores of the African-American community. It’s about taking character and plot and examining them through the lenses of a many-sided AA prism.
Much easier said than done. Just because an AA author writes an AA romance does not make it a good AA romance, as is true for authors of any other romances or within any other genre.
I understand those who would like to see AA romances get some facetime, so to speak, in contests and within writers’ organizations like RWA. AA authors who excel at this sub-genre should get their due, no differently than good paranormal, inspirational, or contemporary romance authors. Do contest judges understand and recognize the nuances, or do they rate based on their usual standard and therefore, possibly underrate these stories? I don’t know.
At the same time, I get that “love is colorblind”, or at least many would like it to be. However, if that were true, AA authors would not have to fight so hard to gain readership outside the African-American community. Lovers of romance of all ethnicities would buy and read any and all good romances. Sales statistics tell us time and time again that that’s not the case.
No solutions. Just a lot of thoughts. As with all things race, the matter is complicated.
I think love — or at least romance — is pretty clearly not colorblind, or we wouldn’t be discussing this. (And Dear Author wouldn’t have had a post today on a similar topic.) And surely after all this time, at least one AA romance would’ve won (or at least finalled? has that ever happened?) in the RITAs or Golden Heart, if romance were actually colorblind.
I’ve heard from some black writers who prefer to have all AA books (even if it’s never quite all; some genres inter-mingle better than romance does) in one section of the store so their core audience can find them, and from other black writers who are outraged at the ghettoization. And correspondingly, I’ve seen some black readers arguing that they’re offended by the separation of AA books, and others arguing that they want to be able to find all their favorite authors in one place; the latter group often doesn’t look in any other part of the bookstore, from what people have posted in comments in blog discussions I’ve found.
I can see both sides of the argument, and although my own gut-level response is that the ghetto shelves are a horrible solution and prevent a lot of black writers from finding a larger audience, I’m not going to tell all those other black writers that they should gamble what financial security they have by agitating to be shelved with the white romances, and just hope that they pick up enough new white readers to make up for the black readers who won’t find them there. :/
Angie