The Yoshihiro Tanbara Archivessaying may go, "don't judge a book by it's cover," but if we're being real, book covers are incredibly important—and when they don't accurately reflect the characters, that's a big problem.
Nnedi Okorafor's The Shadow Speakerwas published 10 years ago, yet her viral tweet Tuesday about her experience getting it out to the world has prompted online discourse about whitewashing in books both from readers and illustrators.
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"As a black woman writing a black female main character in a sci-fi novel, seeing my character whitewashed on the cover felt-like-erasure," Okorafor wrote on Twitter, sharing the original cover proposal that was given to her, which depicts a white woman walking across sandy dunes.
Okorafor, who has been vocal about the problematic literary situations in the past, recalled that after her objections via her agent, the version that eventually was published features a black woman.
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"Actually, the designer knew what the book was about," Okorafor explained to a commenter who defended the illustrator. "He just said that it was too hard to find stock footage of black girls. Next excuse?"
As Okorafor explained on Twitter, this isn't the first time it has happened to authors—Octavia Butler's Dawn, which was published in 1987, received similar treatment.
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But beyond that, Okorafor brought forward the point of whitewashing and erasure beyond the illustrator's pen. The author shed light on a conversation not often had: what goes on "in many readers' minds," or "the one that turns characters white upon reading them so the reader is more comfortable."
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"A reader once emailed me that she was glad I kept reminding her Zahrah in Zahrah the Windseeker was black because she kept imagining her white," Okorafor recalled, regardless of the cover—two versions, both of which depict a black character.
Regardless, it seems Okorafor has hope.
"Nothing like that cover issue will happen again. Better publishers, better times," she wrote.
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"Now it's up to readers to do their parts."
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