The new novel American Dirt has made international headlines and created a firestorm online in recent days, sparking questions about cultural appropriation and the lack of diversity in the U.S. publishing industry. Billed as the next literary phenomenon, the book secured a coveted Oprah Winfrey endorsement, was touted as one of the most anticipated novels of 2020, and even deemed a “Grapes of Wrath for our time.”

In the novel, author Jeanine Cummins tells the story of Mexican bookstore owner Lydia and her 8-year-old son Luca as they flee Acapulco in the wake of drug-cartel violence. The pair head to the U.S. border by freight train, meeting fellow migrants and enduring violent, tragic conditions along their journey.

Cummins’ use of Mexicans to tell a border story that today is largely of Central American migration was only one of the criticisms levied. Critics condemned the novel as an appropriation of work from authors of color, poorly written, and an immigration story packaged for white audiences.

Since the novel’s January 21 release, there have been debates over why it is so troubling and who has the authority to tell the migration story. Some have argued that Cummins’ lack of first-hand knowledge of what it means to be a Mexican or a migrant in itself makes American Dirt a story she has no right to tell. Cummins herself alludes to this in the author’s note, saying: "I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it. But then I thought, if you’re a person who has the capacity to be a bridge, why not be a bridge?"

But in the case of immigration, a topic so politically and emotionally complex, should white authors be a bridge? Some argue that it is certainly possible to write successfully about Mexico and migration as an outsider, but that “good intentions don’t cover faulty execution.” Mexican Americans have ridiculed Cummins’ use of Spanish “as if generated by Google translate.” Others have attacked cultural inaccuracies in her portrayal of modern Mexico, observing that the stereotype of Mexico as a violent and hellish landscape forms the very premise of American Dirt.

The U.S. publishing industry, which is 84 percent non-Hispanic white, has come in for its own criticism, denounced as promoting “immigrant trauma porn” and favoring white authors over those of color. Some Latino writers have attested to being ignored or marginalized by publishers.

If there is an upside to the controversy, it is that some Latino authors, who have rallied to support each other using the Twitter hashtag #DignidadLiteraria, are initiating a dialogue with publishers, hoping to right what many view as a deeply broken system. Flatiron Books, which cancelled the book tour, said it is open to dialogue. “Rather than run away from this conversation, we want to move towards a solution,” the Flatiron president said.

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Editor, Migration Information Source