✨❤️ The Needy Girl Boss Needs Authors to Stop Writing Racist Things ❤️✨

Bookthreads and TikTok are LOUD with this latest scandal 👀

Dec 27, 2024

Happy Hanukkah and I hope everyone had a happy Christmas with your loved ones or solo because everyone’s family isn’t able to holly jolly correctly.

I reckon my time off TikTok except to keep streaks up in my DMs with the homies opened my eyes to this latest scandal involving one of Booktok's fave authors Jescie Hall. I’ll let this brother explain more (s/o to my friend Michelle for sharing this with me):

leon_plays_in_the_universes

A post shared by @leon_plays_in_the_universes

I’ll be honest — y’all know I love a good dark romance, and even better if it’s smutty, but I cannot stand awful stereotypes. Why are writers still doing these types of things and profiting from them?

You would honestly think that with Google being free, you could research and write better black and POC characters instead of thinking your instincts are good. Even if your heart is in the right place, you could still be getting some context wrong.

A friend said it best, it’s like when white women have children by black men and don’t do their hair properly, then blame the kid’s hair, not their lack of knowledge or lack of time to learn how to do the kid’s hair properly.

Here’s another BookToker breaking it down:

@breana_reads CHAOS. #breanareads #bookreview #booktok #blackbooktok #toberead #jesciehall

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Another conversation on Threads allegedly forced Hall’s husband, who is black, to come to Hall’s defense. Hey, Siri, play Get Out.” It does appear at the time of this writing, those comments have been either removed, reported, or blocked. Speculation continues to abound on that front.

The thread that started it all can be found here.

Holy blackface, Batman. I am so glad I never found any of Hall’s books interesting enough to buy. So glad I have good taste.

A reader who received an advanced reader copy of the book in question, The Canary Cowards, and sent back her thoughts:

Even other readers on Bookthreads shared and commented other Hall controversies, including her use of AI artwork.

A thread from fabulous author Taniver Peart, summed it all up when she wrote: “Keep seeing the same arguments on here and will continue to say with my full chest to leave Black and brown MCs to Black and brown authors. Proximity ≠ authenticity. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤎Also, a gentle reminder that Black romance requires the author and *both* MCs to be Black. If one of the MCs is non-Black, it's not a Black romance. We good? Now check the greens on your stove. I smell something burning.”

The house is on fire for writers who continue to perpetuate bad stereotypes and write characters like this. It’s not OK. Please do not bring this trash into 2025.

It’s not a problem for writers who aren’t black or a POC to write characters who are black or POC. Can you not write shitty, blackfaced, mime versions of us? It’s already getting harder and harder to find good books that feature us getting the same love, respect, intimacy, wins, losses, etc., as white female main characters as it is. It gets daunting and weighs heavy on the spirit. The only decently done one I’ve read in the last year was “Terms and Conditions” by Lauren Asher. At least the heroine had some real depth and the male main character loved her IMMENSELY.

Personally, if it’s a black female lead, I won’t read it unless it has a black female author writing her.

Ultimately, many read to escape from what’s holding us down in the real world. I would think that people don’t crack open a smutty dark romance to be hit with some worldly view of their race, imbibed with defunct definitions of blackness for white comfort. And for the thousands who reviewed this book and rated it highly? Why?

We need to start doing this:

Author Georgina Kiesten also posted a thought-provoking Instagram carousel discussing why we should stop begging white authors to do right by black and POC characters on Jan. 30. I couldn’t agree more:

ingloriousgigi