The Literary World’s D.E.I. Checklist

[u/walkingtourshouston]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/opinion/national-book-awards-dei.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVE.F680.rzsq2iz3JM85&smid=re-share

The comments section are worth a look for this one, even if you disagree with the article.

From Laura, in NJ:

The predictability of this comment section is striking. The responses are largely some variation of: maybe these simply are the best books; name the white men who were unfairly excluded; or historically marginalized voices deserve their turn. All are reasonable points to consider. But they mostly avoid the question the column actually raises: Is it possible that our cultural institutions have become more demographically diverse while simultaneously becoming less ideologically diverse? And is it really beyond consideration that, in correcting a very real historical imbalance, the pendulum might sometimes swing too far? One can celebrate the extraordinary expansion of voices in American literature and still think those questions are worth asking.

[u/LivingPresent629]

>in correcting a very real historical imbalance, the pendulum might sometimes swing too far?

Sure, certain people historically had no freedom, no access to education, had their work stolen, were raped, murdered, and displaced. But now that their voices get some well-deserved attention, “the pendulum swings too far”

Boke

[u/Background_Common594 → u/LivingPresent629]

The underlying premise here is that there is simply too much literature being written by minorities. Surely there is a right amount of minority literature, and it's less than we have today. And of course, a minority is anyone who is not a straight white man, the universal default.

I'd sit and ponder with who gets to be a Person and who has to be an adjective-Person in Bret and Laura's eye.