Latinos Are Taking To Twitter To Call Out The Stereotypes And Tropes In The Criticized Novel ‘American Dirt’
“American Dirt” is one novel grabbing all of the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The book, written by a Puerto Rican woman, has been dragged for relying on stereotypes and tropes about Mexicans to tell a tale of migrating to the U.S. Several celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, have praised the book sparking a more severe backlash from people. The novel has led to a Twitter trend of Latinos writing their own Latino novels using the same kinds of stereotypes found throughout the book.
Latinos on Twitter are dragging “American Dirt” author Jeanine Cummins.
Social media has been calling out Jeanine Cummins and everyone who has endorsed “American Dirt.” The main complaint has been the insensitive and stereotypical writing trying to tell a Mexican story from a non-Mexican writer.
It wasn’t long until Latino Twitter users took to the micro-blogging site to show how ludicrous the book is.
Several creatives have shared paragraphs playing up tired and offensive stereotypes to shine a light on what they see in “American Dirt.” Some stars, like Salma Hayek, have had to apologize for promoting the book without reading it.
Latinos from all walks, not just Mexican, have joined in on the social media trend.
There have long been discussions about the proper representation of Latinos in media. From books to movies to television to comics, the conversations have long revolved around the lack of the people telling the stories. “American Dirt” is another example of someone not from an experience writing about the experience and totally missing the mark.
Some of the tweets are short and sweet but pack a punch.
The backlash against “American Dirt” has been so strong and sustained that even Oprah Winfrey has had to change her tune. The media megastar has announced a deeper panel discussion about the book to really bring to light the underlying frustrations with the books.
Latinos have long been underrepresented and ignored but it seems critics are on track to win this battle.
What do you think about the controversy around “American Dirt” and the celebrities who praised and promoted it without reading it?
