Barnes & Noble accused of performing ‘literary blackface’

Barnes & Noble will no longer move forward with plans to include people of color on the covers of classic novels after writers slammed the chain for attempting “literary blackface.”

The New York Times reported B&N started the project, Diverse Editions, to “raise awareness and discussion during Black History Month,” and was working with publishing houses to create limited-edition covers for 12 novels that don’t reference the race of its characters, such as The Secret Garden, Romeo and Juliet, and Moby-Dick. Each of the 12 titles was given five different colors to depict an array of ethnically diverse characters. For example, an Asian Dorothy in a pink dress would have graced one of the covers of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, along with a Black and Native American version.

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The redesigned books would have then been sold at New York City’s Fifth Avenue store, one of the chain’s largest, and discussed during a panel session on diversity Wednesday evening.

But criticism was harsh, swift and final, causing B&N to re-think the effort.

“We acknowledge the voices who have expressed concerns about the Diverse Editions project at our Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue store and have decided to suspend the initiative,” Barnes & Noble said in a statement. “The covers are not a substitute for black voices or writers of color, whose work and voices deserve to be heard.”

Some of those taking offense were writer Rod T. Faulkner, who called the project “literary blackface” in an essay he penned for Medium. On Twitter, Angie Thomas, the author of the young-adult novel The Hate U Give, questioned why Barnes & Noble couldn’t instead “promote books by authors of color. Just a thought.”

“Can you imagine a young Black girl seeing a cover with someone who looks like her but then finds nothing that reflects her in the pages? No Black girls at all? Y’all that is more than a bait and switch. That’s harmful,” tweeted @KarenMusings. 

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And for N.K. Jemisin, the question of how a bookseller could think that window dressing would suffice for real change. “Kids who read it will still know … now they’ll also know somebody at B&N thinks blackness is just a meaningless veneer used to mock real representation. It’s literary blackface, and they WILL see through it. Kids aren’t stupid,” Jemisin tweeted.

The Fifth Avenue B&N may have had a misstep, but another Manhattan location of the chain in the toney Tribeca neighborhood was inspired to create a special section reflective of Black authors.

In its statement, Barnes & Noble said each of its stores would “continue to highlight a wide selection of books to celebrate black history and great literature from writers of color.”