Best-selling novelist James Patterson is predictably apologizing for claiming white writers face racism in this era of the Woke Gestapo.
In a weekend interview with Britain’s Sunday Times, the 75-year-old said…
…white men who have trouble finding writing jobs in movies, theater, TV, and publishing are dealing with “just another form of racism.”
“What’s that all about?” he reportedly said. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”
To the surprise of no one, the ensuing blowback was fierce and immediate, and on Tuesday — again, to the surprise of no one — Patterson issued an apology by way of his verified Twitter account.
“I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism,” he wrote. “I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.”
I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.
— James Patterson (@JP_Books) June 14, 2022
It’s not as if he had much of choice, unless you count “apologize or be blacklisted, disgraced, and audited by the IRS” a choice.
Hey, that’s a nice career you got there, be a shame if anything happened to it.
Even though the left openly brags about practicing racial McCarthyism against the “white patriarchy,” only they are allowed to say so. If anyone else points this out, they are smeared as whiners and racists.
Patterson has a lot to lose. He’s been a best-selling novelist for decades; he’s co-written books with people like former President Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton. He’s a member of the elite, and members of the elite are not allowed to express certain opinions.
Here’s just a taste of the disingenuous backlash that mobilized against him…
For many people, an author who is worth an estimated $800 million and has seen nearly a dozen of his original works made into big-budget films might be the definition of “success.” But James Patterson, the thriller novelist who checks all of the aforementioned boxes, seems to feel that his older white male peers don’t have the same chances in Hollywood as others these days because of … racism?
James Patterson, mega-bestselling author and founder of an eponymous publishing imprint, thinks it’s hard out here for guys like James Patterson.
[…]
Yet the most illuminating section of Patterson’s new interview isn’t his commentary about publishing; it’s his reflections about his own work. Note the moment when The Sunday Times observed that Patterson’s early success is linked to his Alex Cross series, which centers on a Black detective. “I just wanted to create a character who happened to be Black,” Patterson told the paper. “I would not have tried to write a serious saga about a Black family. It’s different in a detective story because plot is so important.”
With this attitude, clearly Patterson isn’t the right writer to pen that saga about a Black family.
Ultimately, Patterson is just another white publishing gatekeeper anxious about the fact that the gate may have swung open too wide. Fortunately for him, he will endure little to no consequences for his words. The pushback won’t touch his stratospheric wealth. He has established a large literary fortress with a wide moat that insulates him from criticism.
What’s important here is that Patterson was not speaking on behalf of himself. He was talking about what’s happening to others, to new writers, and what he sees going on around him.
And wouldn’t he know?
His comments weren’t selfish. He’s not claiming he’s a victim or deserves more. He’s merely commenting on the current state of things.
We can all sense the woke over-correction that’s going on in, especially in the entertainment culture. There is no doubt the left-wing world of storytelling (movies, TV, novels, etc.) has always discriminated against racial minorities. This is especially galling because Americans have embraced black actors, actresses, and characters for decades — everyone from Bill Cosby to Oprah Winfrey to Michael Jackson to Richard Pryor. Nevertheless, Hollywood remained racist. But now, rather than merely issuing a long-overdue correction, the pendulum appears to have swung the other way, which is all Patterson was saying.
Good people want a colorblind society.
The Woke Gestapo are not good people.
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