WHO KILLED BUSTER SPARKLE? by John W. Bateman Is Going Through a Major Change
As writers and publishers there are times when we opt to include words, sometimes those that are taboo, in our stories because we believe they fit the character or the plot or the era. BUT, sometimes, long after printing and hours of pondering, we decide that maybe those stories would be better off without those words because they are harmful to others. Recently, John and Summer worked together to eliminate two slurs that were originally published in WHO KILLED BUSTER SPARKLE?. They simply didn’t feel right. We’d like to use this opportunity to start a discussion about using words, particularly those that harm certain groups of people.
To start, John W. Bateman and Unsolicited Press have included the following foreword in the book, which is currently being reprinted. New copies, without the slurs, will be available on January 1, 2024. Please take a moment to read it:
“Specificity gives a reason for everything.”
Actor and writer Donnetta Lavinia Graves taught me that premise over a bowl of mac & cheese in NYC, perhaps a decade ago. When I wrote Who Killed Buster Sparkle?, I wanted to show the complex, brut honesty of a modern South. Two antagonists are embedded with racism: Tinsley, with an internalized disrespect of Black folk, and Earl, with an ugly, visible, fetishized racism.
In one scene, it felt necessary to reflect Earl’s specific racism when he utters two slurs. This part has never been read at public or private readings. I do not feel that is appropriate.
After George Floyd’s murder and the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, I began to question myself: if I won’t read Earl’s words aloud, then why write a character who uses them?
I did not have a good answer. My previous one—that the specificity of Earl’s racism required it—no longer felt appropriate.
This unease continued to grow. Racism isn’t limited to racial slurs, segregation academies, or burning crosses. Racism has an insidious effect that lingers.[1] Consider neighborhoods that are still segregated by race today, long after redlining, when banks actively denied mortgages to Black families in certain areas. Those past actions impact today’s transfer of intergenerational wealth, when the value of those homes has diverged in strikingly different ways.
Earl’s racism is oversimplified. I now believe his slurs were not required (and inappropriate). I also see the missed opportunity to delve further into the insidious aspects of modern racism instead of relying on the easier stereotypes.
Other writers whom I respect (of different identities) have disagreed, but my gut gnawed at me. Growth cannot rest on opinions that validate past actions. I assumed nothing could be done to rectify my actions. Nonetheless, in early 2023, I finally contacted Unsolicited Press to share my concern. To my grateful surprise, they agreed with me and edited the scene nearly 4 years after publication. It is rare for a small press to engage with its authors the way Unsolicited Press does. I should have trusted my instincts and raised the issue sooner.
We need conversations and actions around words, stories, and the potential power that writers have to hold up a mirror without also throwing rocks. Sometimes, as writers, we need to face that mirror ourselves.
It’s difficult to step up and say Hey, I think we made a mistake. But what’s important, is taking the steps to rectify those mistakes. We hope that we can continue this conversation with readers, writers, and others in the publishing industry.
To demonstrate our sincere goal to champion the underserved, we will be donating 25% of the profit from all future sales of WHO KILLED BUSTER SPARKLE? to Black and Pink. Black & Pink National is a prison abolitionist organization dedicated to abolishing the criminal punishment system and liberating LGBTQIA2S+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by that system through advocacy, support, and organizing.
