tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265211818221856592.post4028041249996720019..comments2016-12-31T20:07:43.960-06:00Comments on What the Muses Left Behind...: "I'm Not Black"Coltenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597982063069098272noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265211818221856592.post-77223149860360159162014-04-23T10:44:54.059-05:002014-04-23T10:44:54.059-05:00Thank you. As a half-Asian who loved E&P, than...Thank you. As a half-Asian who loved E&P, thank you. As an advocate of diversity in YA, thank you. As a reader, thank you. As a writer, thank you.<br /><br />I plan to blog about E&P and the backlash as well, and I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one speaking out in support of Rainbow and her wonderful book.Kristanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04771013578685419826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265211818221856592.post-13831193814538370852014-04-16T20:31:22.798-05:002014-04-16T20:31:22.798-05:00Wow, thank you for writing this (and Mel for leadi...Wow, thank you for writing this (and Mel for leading me here). Forgive my long response.<br /><br />I loved Eleanor and Park. I've now read all the articles worrying over its use of race (thank you for the links) and I still love Eleanor and Park. Also though, I appreciate the articles and their authors.<br /><br />There was a year when it seemed to me that a memoir of a Chinese American woman was released every other month (perhaps it's just that I was living in SF at the time, and for the first time, came across these books). I read every one of these books. I sought them out. I devoured them. I loved every one. <br /><br />And yet, a not-small part of me -- of Chinese American, female me -- resented each one of these books. With each one, that not-small part of me shouted, "Wrong! Not true!"<br /><br />It was natural that after a lifetime of rarely encountering any Chinese Americans in books, I wanted to identify with those I finally found. In fact, I so SO much wanted to identify that I experienced the differences between their and my lives as lies or betrayals.<br /><br />The truth of course is that those memoirists got it right about their own lives. My life may have been different from theirs, but the differences didn't make either my life or theirs less true or less authentic. I had to realize this.<br /><br />So I get where Wendy Xu and the authors of the other critiques are coming from. And I really appreciate their having this conversation. I very much agree with the push for more conscious and more varied and simply more portrayals of Asian Americans (and all other under-represented people) in books.<br /><br />Still, I love Eleanor and Park, and I agree with you. <br /><br />Park, including his insecurities, read as true to me (meaning I could imagine it, not that it was representative). So did Eleanor's sense of Park's and his mom's Asian-ness, including her fascination with his eyes and skin (which are unique in their town) and with his mom's delicate smallness (come on! this girl is bullied for her largeness). I could and did imagine these. Perhaps an Asian American writer would have written them differently (and we should get going writing our books then, if we aren't already), but that difference doesn't detract from Rainbow Rowell's version.<br /><br />I feel your anger too, and the accompanying worry that the critiques are counterproductive. <br />Indeed, why would we ask that minority characters, besides being resonant, must also be representative or exemplary portrayals of their group? Why would we *want* such a limiting thing? <br /><br />You are black whether or not you like jazz. I am Chinese whether or not I like Bruce Lee (I do, and I don't wish to pretend I don't just because someone is watching/reading). And so, Park is a half-Korean Omahan even if he is short, even if his Korean mom has an accent, and even if his white dad was a soldier. <br /><br />For me... I've come to welcome talk about race. In the end, I'm grateful to Rainbow Rowell for Park's Asian-ness, as well as, grateful to these voices for their critiques. Thank you too for raising your voice.<br />Ki-Wing Merlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07941054514974696936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265211818221856592.post-51542167530615602352014-04-16T13:51:41.695-05:002014-04-16T13:51:41.695-05:00YES. THIS. (As someone who regularly sticks her ne...YES. THIS. (As someone who regularly sticks her neck out there, damned be the consequences!)Melanie Conklinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16593672562888738055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265211818221856592.post-44016920031793719872014-04-16T13:07:21.657-05:002014-04-16T13:07:21.657-05:00My thoughts exactly, not on the book since unfortu...My thoughts exactly, not on the book since unfortunately I haven't read it, but on the issue of "color". I don't need to look like a character to understand them. So thank you for being more eloquent about it than I am. :DAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6265211818221856592.post-35713857715085250632014-04-16T12:47:35.797-05:002014-04-16T12:47:35.797-05:00I think I love you. Thanks for writing this. :)I think I love you. Thanks for writing this. :)Sue Londonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com