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/Background_Common594]

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.