Are Writers of Colour Damaged?

Just read this post at Brooklyn Arden which references an article in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates, then read Zetta's response. I'm adding my contribution to the discussion here, rather than on either of those posts, because it is rather long to be a comment . . .

Historical white supremacy does not excuse current publishing houses from actively seeking AND NURTURING work from writers of colour. I know Brooklyn Arden's post has this disclaimer, but it needs to be said again.

Editors have been known to acquire books that need ground-up revisions from writers in whom they see "promise." And, since white writers are published in far larger numbers than writers of colour, most of those "promising" writers tend to be white.

I find it hard to believe that "fully formed" writers of colour have been so irreparably damaged by historical white supremacy that our writing shows no promise, whatsoever. And that, unless you catch us in grade school or high school, we'll likely live with that damage for the rest of our years.

I find it harder, still, to believe that an editor who would take a manuscript through several rounds of ground-up revisions with a white author wouldn't find a promising writer of colour that s/he could make similar ground-up revisions with.

And I find it almost impossible to believe that writers suffering from the long-term impacts of historical male-supremacy, historical hetero-supremacy, and other kinds of historical oppression, haven't, likewise, been so irreparably damaged.

Some of the most poignant, powerful writing comes from those who've suffered unimaginable transgressions, from people whose lives have been torn and blasted in many ways, sometimes for generations. And editors take the heart-wrenching stories of these survivors--these *thrivers*--and help the writer shape these stories into works of beauty.

The pain and suffering of people of colour is *always* on the pages of our writing--whether we are writing romance, humour, fantasy, or contemporary realistic fiction. There is no escaping it because it is fused to our genetic make-up through history, culture, socio-economics. But finding editors and agents who stare at that pain with unflinching compassion, and a burning desire to be part of the solution . . . well, that is a rare find, indeed.