This is why we can’t have diverse books. Author Jacqueline Woodson received the National Book Award Wednesday night for her young adult memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, a moment every writer dreams of… only to become the subject of an unfortunate attempt at humor by the event’s host, Daniel Handler, who writes the wildly popular children’s books A Series of Unfortunate Events under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket.
At the podium, Handler made a crack about hoping to someday win the Coretta Scott King award (an honor especially for African American authors) before announcing that Woodson, who is black, is allergic to watermelon.
“And I said, 'You have to put that in a book.' And she said, 'You put it in a book.' And I said, 'I'm only writing a book about a black girl who's allergic to watermelon if I get a blurb from you, Cornell West, Toni Morrison, and Barack Obama saying 'This guy's OK. This guy's fine.' Alright.'”
Awkward silence.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Nervous laugh.
At the end of year when racial diversity (or the lack of it) in the literary world has become a mainstream discussion, including Walter Dean Myer’s New York Times op-ed Where Are the People of Color in Children's Books?, Junot Diaz’s essay about the overwhelming whiteness of most MFA writing programs, and the formation of the We Need Diverse Books movement, this is a sad reminder that the publishing world is not always welcoming to writers of color. There aren’t exactly signs posted at the entrance of major publishing houses reading “No Black Authors Need Apply” or “Our Asian Book Quota Has Been Filled”, but the ease with which Handler made his racially loaded remark at one of the industry’s biggest events reveals that the culture of the book world is still such that a best-selling author wouldn’t think twice about the appropriateness of making a watermelon joke about his black colleague. Handler made things even worse with his "we'll talk about that later" aside, making it seem like he realized his comment was inappropriate only because he said it in front of mixed company.
The reaction on Twitter was overwhelmingly critical of Handler, no surprise given the way the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag went viral earlier this year:
Why do #WeNeedDiverseBooks? Because the presenter at one of our most prestigious literary award ceremonies feels free to make racist jokes.
— Mike Jung (@Mike_Jung) November 20, 2014
So there's video of Handler making racist remarks as a host of the National Book Awards. And y'all wonder why #WeNeedDiverseBooks exists.
— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) November 20, 2014
But if there was EVER a more clear message for why #WeNeedDiverseBooks in this country, @DanielHandler epitomized it at #NBAwards
— Ellen Oh (@elloecho) November 20, 2014
I'll just say I and every other black writer I know are not thrilled about the joke. @madfoot@justbethanne@clnichols6
— Roxane Gay (@rgay) November 20, 2014
.@DanielHandler then says "we'll explain it [joke abt CSK award] to you later." Wondering who "we" and "you" are and what explanation is...
— Debbie Reese (@debreese) November 20, 2014
I am thinking of readers who adore Jackie Woodson and possibly Daniel Handler as well, reveling in her words and her jubilance
— Release Kaye-raken! (@gildedspine) November 20, 2014
.@rgay I was very startled that Daniel Handler delivered that as a joke. It was so wrong for the occasion. I thought he knew better.
— Malinda Lo (@malindalo) November 20, 2014
No. "Jackie Woodson is allergic to watermelon, just let that sink in your mind." 38 mins in. via @rgayhttp://t.co/tp0VLDHnrQ
— Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisicoates) November 20, 2014
This morning, Daniel Handler apologized for his remarks on Twitter:
My job at last night's National Book Awards #NBAwards was to shine a light on tremendous writers, including Jacqueline Woodson... -DH [1/2]
— Daniel Handler (@DanielHandler) November 20, 2014
...and not to overshadow their achievements with my own ill-conceived attempts at humor. I clearly failed, and I’m sorry. -DH [2/2]
— Daniel Handler (@DanielHandler) November 20, 2014
Last night’s events are a reminder to me of how important it is to support writers of color, LGBT writers, and writers with disabilities. In the publishing world, certain titles race to the top of the bestseller lists — and unfortunately, those books are often ones depicting the experiences which are largely white. What if Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming, which has been described as a “wonderful memoir in verse” became as popular among school kids as the Lemony Snicket series?
So go buy a copy of Brown Girl Dreaming or donate to the We Need Diverse Books campaign (Woodson is on the advisory board).
What do you think of Handler’s comments? Of diversity in the publishing industry in general? Will you talk to your kids about Handler’s comments?
News and Politics Editor Grace Hwang Lynch blogs about raising an Asian mixed-race family at HapaMama.