Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
A few weeks ago, the owner of a local supermarket informed me that he was halfway through my latest book, “Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America” and said that he’d never read anything like it. His compliment didn’t mention history, research or storytelling, but because I’ve received the same compliment from so many Black readers, I knew exactly where he was going.
“I love the stories about your family,” he explained. “You never hear stories about regular Black families.”
“Yeah,” I replied.
That’s all. That’s the whole story.
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On Sunday, “Black screenwriter” and director Cord Jefferson took home the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for penning “American Fiction,” a Black movie about a “Black novelist” who was tired of writing “Black books.” During his victory speech, Jefferson graciously thanked his colleagues for “trusting a 40-year-old Black guy who’s never directed anything before” and beseeched studio executives to “recognize that there are so many people out there who want the opportunity that I was given.” But it was Jefferson’s backstage press conference that ruffled the most feathers.
“There’s an audience for things that are different,” Jefferson explained. “A story with Black characters that’s going to appeal to a lot of people doesn’t need to take place on a plantation. Doesn’t need to take place in the projects. Doesn’t need to have drug dealers in it. Doesn’t need to have gang members in it. There’s an audience for different depictions of people’s lives. There is a market for depictions of Black life that are as broad and as deep as any other depictions of people’s lives.”
Some…
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