'The Unbearable Whiteness of Publishing' Revisited

Over the past quarter-century, book publishing has made some strides in diversifying its workforce and the authors it publishes, thanks in part to the efforts of many recently founded advocacy groups and movements, including We Need Diverse Books, People of Color in Publishing, and the #OwnVoices movement. But while the book business's stance on, and dialogue surrounding, race has improved, there is still work to be done-including much that was laid out in Ledbetter's piece.

The parallels between publishing in 1995 and publishing today are astounding, unsurprising, and disheartening. In fact, the main threads of Ledbetter's story could very well have been plucked from any recent discussion surrounding publishing's lack of racial and ethnic diversity today. As a children's book editor who has discussed these issues with my own circle of friends and colleagues, I wanted to revisit this piece, illustrating what has changed and what hasn't.