White Girl Bleed a Lot Podcast. Subscribe now.
I get lots of email from cops and prison psychologists and others who work on the front lines.
This might be the most important letter of all:
Dear Mr. Flaherty:
Somewhat recently on WGBAL I listened to you as a guest on a radio show/podcast where either you or the DJ made side comment… about what upsets today’s black children.
The answer was slavery. Black kids in this 21st century were upset and worried about slavery. What!?!?!? How can children, born after the year 2000 be upset over this- being afraid that slavery can harm them or they themselves may some day be in servitude once again?
Having worked as a children’s librarian for nearly a decade… and interacting with black children, families and schoolteachers (and their white counterparts) there is something I noticed. Though elementary school may not have “Critical Race Theory” being promoted in their hallways… yet; there is an obsession with other racial matters, specifically- the slavery era.
Though there are plenty of books about famous black inventors, athletes, military leaders and blacks in different historical eras… such as the 1920s (Harlem Renaissance), 1800s Buffalo Soldiers, 1700s-1800s Free People of Color, WWII overseas and home-front blacks… plus, modern setting books with blacks; these are not books that are sought. Books about slavery seem to be the only thing on their reading lists.
If not about slavery… then books about discrimination were always requested. This is the only perspective so many youngsters are getting.
When the School Library Journal came out with a list of “diverse” children’s books… there are titles about slave ships, Jim Crow Mississippi and the like. Everything about slavery is focused on American slavery; and the white-black dynamic of it. Slavery in America and elsewhere is a lot more complicated than that.
Oh, and this same list has a children’s book about a little black Muslim girl who lives in Mauritania, Africa… and who wants to wear a head-to-toe covering like the other “grown up Muslim women.”
My jaw dropped when I saw that. Especially, reviews about the book says its a “positive portrayal” of Islamic culture. Seriously?
In the 21st Century… Mauritania still has black slavery- as in black people being bought, sold and owned by black Muslim and Arab Muslim people. Countless women instead of wanting to be covered, wish to live their lives NOT as 3rd class citizens and be free of body coverings. Many more want a stop to female genital mutilation and would like to have educations. This is Mauritania TODAY.
This book is promoted as being “diverse” and be all touchy feely about wonderful Muslim Africa and Islam. Islam for the past 1400 years has had continual slavery- mostly targeting black people.
This is promoted as being “diverse”, though not a very honest look at Muslim Africa and little girls who live there. YET, plenty of books about American slavery… which ended of course in the 1860s. There was listed a book about black girls in Sudan… but I don’t know if it mentions slavery or the fact of Islamic involvement. Slavery still exists… and is not discussed in a book about happy Muslim girls who desire to be covered head to toe in a nation where slavery is rampant.
In a place where slavery ended generations ago, America… and the main group that was enslaved has made tremendous strives in all aspects of society… well, that slavery is a “constant image” while the positive strides are many times ignored… in children’s books, lesson plans and more.
No wonder those black kids are “worried” about slavery- parents, teachers, institutions are all re-enforcing the slavery era to these children. While places like Muslim controlled Mauritania are Islamic paradises for black females.
Regards
xxx
St. Louis
p.s. Also, do you know you as an author are a “trigger man?”
Another thing gaining ground with the “diversity movement amongst authors” is the issue of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. Especially, amongst “marginalized communities” that might be harmed or experience PTSD when reading a post, article or book.
What if a Woman-of-Color who deals with issues of body image, racism, sexism, poverty, etcetera… reads something that can mental or emotional anguish?
What if a “morbidly obese woman character” once again in a story… just ends up being a “supportive friend” instead of being the heroine who get a handsome hunk? What if a crime novel had a domestic violence plot or a passage that refers to a sexual assault; and this W-O-C has experienced that in the past? What if she reads a book that reminds her of her poverty and/or that she is not white? (Like a romance novel with a millionaire who sweeps a thin white blonde off her feet).
What if a book has “minority characters”; but it was written by someone not of that culture?
This is all being referred to as “triggers.” A reader can be harmed and traumatized by the contents of a book or article! So…. the solution? This new movement wants to put “trigger warnings” either on the cover (front or back) or in the flaps of books. Readers are sensitive and must be warned!
Plots, characters and dialogue might endanger someone’s mental health! Books can exploit someone’s experiences with sexism and racism! Also, the “blurb” about an author that is usually on the back cover or back flap of a book… well this “bio blurb” should be forthright about the race, ethnicity, faith, culture-identity, sexual orientation, nationality… etcetera of the author.
If a white straight author writes about a transgendered Asian character…. well, a potential reader has every right to know that “cultural appropriations” might be taking places!
Well, I have started to see some of these “trigger warnings” with on-line articles and posts.
I’m going to make a prediction. I think this looney tune BS about “triggers” and the “identify that white guy author” will spread. Give it time and this will be even more on the net than it is now. Then leftist academic journals and liberal magazines will start to use it… then it moves to books.
So, Mr. Flaherty… do you think White Girl Bleed A Lot… is a trigger book?
Just FYI about this stupid newest PC movement.
FROM COLIN
IS WHITE GIRL BLEED A LOT A TRIGGER BOOK?
I HOPE SO.
AND DON’T FORGET THE SEQUEL: LIBRARIAN NAMES BOOKS.
