Hi, everyone. If you don’t know me already, my name is Shenwei (they/them pronouns), and I’m Taiwanese American. I consider myself a diversity advocate, and for this reason, I believe it is essential that I initiate and participate in discussions on issues that pertain to my communities, especially when someone who is part of my community has caused harm to people of marginalized groups.
For those who are not aware, there has been a lot of heated debate in the book community over the recent YA release, Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth (a white author known for her dystopian YA series, Divergent). Specifically, this book has been called out/criticized for being antiblack and anti-indigenous for its use of the trope of dark-skinned, kinky-haired people as “savages.”