![]() ![]() Hell, even most science fiction films didn’t have any Black characters and basically erased the race from the future. Staffed and written by white men, diversity wasn’t an issue that concerned them. This marginalization was even more pronounced in the world of genre writers, especially with science fiction where editors and writers were often more comfortable with characters that were Martians and slimy space creatures than they were with other races. While the rules of game have changed slightly in both academia and the real world, in the 20 th century the lit-landscapes were so marginalized that even aspiring scribes of color might’ve believed that Black writers didn’t exist and, if so inspired, it was impossible to become one. Still, these writers are rarely “important” enough to be part of the canon that values William Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson over August Wilson and Ntozake Shange. Many young people of all races don’t realize that Black writers exist until they either discover them on their own or take a higher education class that introduces them to the works of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and countless others. ![]() In the world of literature, fiction by Black authors is rarely required reading in public schools. Black folks are often thought of as being less smart than their white counterparts and, therefore, their work is labeled less important. In America, especially when it comes to intellectual endeavors - race matters.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |