The booksellers initiative recreated classic books cover art to feature people of color. And many are calling the move racist and misguided. Barnes and noble pulls diverse book covers after backlash. The story of black chicago is so rich that few know it all. The project has been criticized for appearing halfbaked and superficial, with people online saying that barnes and noble should have promoted texts written by black authors instead of retooling the covers of past books if they wanted to spark dialogue and awareness of black history month. Twelve classic books are getting diverse editions, featuring covers designed to champion diversity in literature, according to the us bookstore chain. The statement said that black authors are also being promoted as part of black history month. Barnes and noble celebrates black history month by giving. In august 2019, elliott management corporation acquired the company. For example, shakespeares romeo and juliet will feature several different covers of a man and woman. As of march 7, 2019, the company operates 627 retail stores in all 50 u. Barnes and noble has pulled a set of reimagined classic book covers featuring diverse protagonists after the project prompted an online backlash, with critics calling it a superficial stunt. After some social media users called the initiative classics in blackface, the bookseller nixed its plans for the launch. The big box bookseller teamed up with penguin random house publisher to release.
They took classic book covers like romeo and juliet, the wizard of oz and frankenstein and replaced. I walked into the store with the intent to purchase black history month books for my son and myself. Browse novels from standout voices including tori morrison, michelle obama, tanehisi coates, maya angelou, oprah winfrey and many more. It is a fortune company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the united states. The bookstore had teamed up with penguin random house.
The diverse editions program sparked a social media backlash from critics, who point out that the characters inside the books are still white. In honor of black history month, penguin random house and barnes and noble fifth avenue have collaborated on a project to give classic novels what they refer to as diverse covers. Barnes and noble scraps black history month project after. Barnes and noble suspends diverse editions collection. Barnes and noble scraps diverse editions after backlash.
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