Ben H. Winters's latest novel is Underground Airlines.From his Q&A with a group of high school students in Katy, Texas:
How would you respond to criticisms that say that this is not your story to tell, as a white person?Learn more about the book and author at the official Ben H. Winters website.
I absolutely understand and respect those readers who view a work like this with skepticism, given A) a long and ugly history of white artists representing black characters in gross ways, and B) a long and ugly history of people of color not being afforded the opportunities to tell their own stories. I only hope that if people do actually read this book, they discover that A) I approached my characters and my story with as much knowledge and research and respect as I was able, in order to NOT be one of those gross voices; and B) this book is not me as a white person trying to “pretend to be black”, or claim authority on black history, but rather me as a white person trying to be honest about American history—to do what all white Americans should do more of, which is to reckon with and take responsibility for a long history of systematic racism against nonwhites.
I do take deep exception to the idea that I, as a white person, could never possibly credibly write a black character—to suggest that whites and blacks are so different that the act of fictional empathy could never bridge the gap is...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: The Last Policeman.
The Page 69 Test: The Last Policeman.
The Page 69 Test: Countdown City.
Writers Read: Ben Winters (September 2014).
--Marshal Zeringue