Fred

Fred

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Can Mexicans Only Write About Mexicans? Monday 60 Minute Poll

I read a really interesing column from Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press on a new book, "American Dirt" by Jeanine Cummins. The book is a work of fiction about a Mexican family fleeing for the U.S. The book was big news before it even went into print with the author getting a seven figure payday. But Mexican-American critics savaged the book and others followed suit.

But Oprah Winfrey chose the book for her book club and all hell broke loose. Cummins you see is a white woman. Much of the criticism comes from people who have only that problem with the book They believe she shouldn't have written a book about Mexicans without being one herself, she is not.

But this is where it gets really interesing. In an interview with the BBC Domino Perez, a professor of English at the University of Texas-Austin Center for Mexican American Studies said “When writing about a community to which one does not belong, authors have an obligation to think about the social and cultural politics of what they are doing." "Asking whether or not you are the right person to tell a story,” he added, “means that sometimes the answer is no."

That is a radical idea coming from an educator. Do you know how many books have been written by men and women not in those communities?

Do you think an author should be part of the community they are writing about? MONDAY 60 MINUTE POLL


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