I was reading a book called, The Friend, by Sigrid Nunez when the controversy was unfolding following Oprah Winfrey’s announcement that she’d selected American Dirt for her book club. A lot of The Friend is about authors and writing, and I kept coming across quotes that seemed to describe what was happening to the book’s author, Jeanine Cummins. These two, in particular, stood out:
If reading really does increase empathy, as we are constantly being told that it does, it appears that writing takes some away.
and
“…[B]ut I have noticed that whenever a writer hits it big a lot of effort seems to go into trying to bring that person down.”
In June 2015, Donald Trump came down an escalator and announced that he was running for President of the United States. In his speech, he told us that, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us [sic]. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.” As an afterthought he added, “And some, I assume, are good people.”
American Dirt tells the FICTIONAL story of a mother and her son risking their lives to get to safety in America. Guess what? She’s not a drug dealer nor a criminal. She’s not a rapist. She’s a middle-class woman who owns a bookstore, who, because of a terrible crime committed against her family, will do anything to keep her son safe. The book is ultimately about a mother’s love for her son.
American Dirt works to dispel the myth and imagery that Donald Trump created. I saw Jeanine speak at her event at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC and she said that earlier that day, a woman approached her with tears in her eyes and said, “I am the person who needed to read this book…I am not empathetic by nature. I don’t care about migrants. And now I care about migrants.” Towards the end of the event, someone in the audience asked, “For those of us who feel similarly to the woman you ran into… who have reinvigorated empathy for migrants after reading your book, what ways, tangible ways, do you recommend that they support the migrant community?” (Jeanine recommended sending money to organizations shown on her website and to volunteer at local organizations that provide services to migrants).
One of the book’s biggest critics, David Bowles, said in an interview with NPR that, “It is a really, really interesting boilerplate thriller, fast paced, well-written, well-constructed. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t do the kinds of things that Jeanine purports to do. It does not give a voice or humanity to the ‘faceless brown mass,’ to quote her afterword.”
I agree with him on it being well-written and well-constructed, but his point, that it doesn’t do what she purports to do, is absolutely wrong. By making that non-empathetic lady care about migrants now, the book did exactly what Jeanine purported to do. If this book can reach others and change their hearts and minds about the people at the border in such a manner, isn’t that a good thing?! If the book reaches one person who took Donald Trump at his word and it changes his or her mind, and he or she starts seeking out resources and organizations and figuring out how to help, how can that be a bad thing? That is what this book is trying to do. That is what Jeanine means by trying to be a bridge. What difference does it make if an author who can bring about that kind of change is not Mexican or a migrant? Read through the 5-star reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. The book moves people. It gets people to reconsider their thinking and realize that not all people arriving at the border are drug dealers and rapists. THIS IS A GOOD RESULT.
Another point that is often mentioned in the critique of the book is that Jeanine received a seven-figure advance. She spent years researching and writing that book and when she learns that publishing houses are in a bidding war over it, and that Flatiron wants to buy it for seven figures, is she suddenly supposed to say, “Oh no, you have to pay me less than that”? Come on! Who would do that?! Maybe Pope Francis, but I can’t think of many others. It’s ridiculous for people to blame Jeanine for publishing houses being interested in her book. I do believe that the central issue in all of this controversy is valid and it’s that the publishing industry does not pay attention to or value minority voices. Perhaps all of this will get them to reconsider their business models and seek out Own Voices in a more determined manner. One thing the critics and aspiring writers should note, however: when you write a scathing review that throws around curse words (both in Spanish and English) and hateful, personal attacks against the author, I’m going to stop listening to you. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
The last thing I want to address here is all of the hatred and vitriol that has saturated social media. If you scroll through Jeanine’s Twitter or Instagram pages (or #americandirt on Instagram), the curse words fly. Vomit and poop emojis and trashcans fill the comments. Commenters go after people who have anything positive to say about the book or about Jeanine, or even Oprah. People are scorned because, how dare they read the book, let alone, like it?! How dare they decide to read the book first so they can form their own opinion? These “critics” have decided that only white women like the book. Well, I’m black, and I loved it.
On January 27, I was looking through Instagram and someone went to several of Jeanine’s recent posts and cut and pasted the same hateful message to all of them. Even on posts that had nothing to do with American Dirt. That is harassment. (Thankfully, those posts have since been deleted.) Last week, I reported a post on Instagram that had the undercurrent of a violent threat. She is being harassed and bullied on social media by people who are piling on and getting in the fray just because they’re happy to “GET” someone, as Jon Ronson describes in his Ted Talk, “How One Tweet Can Ruin Your Life.” It is painful and ugly to see all of that directed at Jeanine. People have forgotten that she is a HUMAN BEING. That she is passionate about this subject and compassionate. That she is someone’s daughter, wife, mother, sister, and friend.
