Enough With The Bullshit.

We're so fucked. We really are.

The truth is, we live in a country where nobody gives a shit about black people or poor people unless the tale is told by a white person. Peggy Seltzer got that much right.

We live in a place where there is such an enormous divide between some people and some other people that empowered turds like Michiko Kakutani can read something like "Love and Consequences", something so false, and so obviously false, and believe every word of it. In our country, a privileged moron like Kakutani can actually vouch for the accuracy of the story, and a bunch of other people will believe her, even though Kakutani a) didn't know one fucking thing about the source material, even though she lives and makes her living in a city with a vast minority population living in circumstances quite similar to those exploited by Ms. Seltzer in the writing of her book, and b) doesn't feel compelled to investigate the material, because the actual reality of those living in such conditions is not as valuable to her as the word of an obviously suspect white lady from Oregon.

"Its true because it moves me and she's white." Let's call it what it is. Giving that book the thumbs up without having enough respect for the folks its written about to actually look into it, to actually supplement your utter lack of knowledge by going to the source, is a racist act. Eat it.

Did they care about poor folks? About foster kids? About black people? About anybody? They obviously never cared before, otherwise how do you explain their utter lack of knowledge about these people? Weren't they compelled to care? Shouldn't that be the power of such a narrative, that it inspires you to learn more, to take action, to do SOMETHING? If not, what's so good about it? Why couldn't it work as fiction?

Presumably, when a book like this is published, it is done so under that pretense. "This book inspires, it gives voice to a group of people that are being ignored, it has real value, it should be read by everyone." Didn't Sarah McGrath feel that way? Isn't that why she bought it in the first place? Isn't that why she kept it with her when she came to Riverhead? Isn't that why she developed a relationship with the author? Obviously, Ms. McGrath never knew or cared about poor people, or gang-members, or foster kids before, right? She knew nothing about them! I don't care about orchids, that's why I couldn't tell you a thing about them. If I cared, wouldn't I know? Wouldn't I be able to say, "hey, that's bullshit, man. You're lying about orchids" if someone told me a story that blatantly misrepresented something I cared about? So . . . what, so she didn't care. She was raised by a wealthy, prestigious family, maybe she was too ignorant to know, and therefore was never compelled to care. Didn't this book do that for her? Or was she trying to turn a buck? Did she actually spend three years working on something that didn't even move her, because she thought it would be a nice payday? I submit that she did, otherwise why didn't she want to get to know the environment of the story? Why wasn't she inspired to action?

I'll tell you why: the book is crap. Peggy Seltzer can't write for shit, and her phony, made-for-Lifetime narrative has the depth of the shallow end of a zero-entry swimming pool. Sarah McGrath pushed it forward because it confirmed her preconceived notions of inner-city life. It gave her a heroin, it reaffirmed the assertion that a worthy person can, and will, lift themselves out of the hood, and it allowed her to forward that assertion without shame, because the heroin herself was good-natured enough to disagree. What a woman Peggy is! She's so strong and big-hearted she even apologizes for the gutter trash! It's that kind of proud, determined, loving soul that will make it out of the hood, and as for the ones that don't, well . . .

Same with Kakutani. Don't like it? Explain it another way. I'll wait.

You know what? We all keep doing the thing where we tell ourselves that exploiting crime, poverty, racism, and their many rotten fruits is alright when done in the spirit of giving voice to the ignored. What's wrong with us? Who decided black people don't have a voice to talk about racism? Who decided poor people didn't have a voice to talk about poverty? People, they're talking right now. The problem is, nobody can hear them because YOU'RE SHOUTING OVER THEM. In one of my links, someone makes the point that Ms. Seltzer's "memoir" was important because it was the only one the critic was aware of that was written by a woman. Really? Was research done on that, or is the next part of your sentence "or, at least, a white woman"?

Do you care about their stories, or did you reach that conclusion because it supported what you'd already decided? Here's an idea, the next time some privileged white asshole decides to "lend a voice": shut the hell up, and listen for a change. They're all around you, and they've got plenty to say.