ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA CALL FOR INCLUSION

The Romance Authors of America seem to have decided to follow the plot of “Romeo and Juliet.” That is to say, self-destruction.

Once upon a time, romance author Courtney Milan read a book. This book was called “Somewhere Lies the Moon” by Kathryn Lynn Davis. Milan, who is Chinese-American (and sat on the RAA board of directors), was not a fan. In fact, she was so upset by what she called “a racist mess” that she publicly called Davis out for it.

During this time, Milan was in the midst of a heated debate over alleged discrimination against authors of color with the former head of Romance Acquisitions for the Borders bookstore chain. Complaints were lodged against her after these events. She was asked to resign from her position on the board. A censure was levied against her. She was stripped of her position on the board and her membership was banned for a year.

Things really hit the fan, once the news broke on Twitter.

Almost overnight, a huge uproar was made over Milan’s forced resignation as people protested the complaints against her and criticized the board’s actions. Many have begun to doubt the board’s commitment to inclusion and diversity in the works of their authors, and many of the authors have chosen not to renew their membership with the organization. 

Things got so heated that the annual RITA awards (the Oscars for romance novels) were canceled due to the charges of corruption by several major publishers. One of them, Avon, stated “In support of inclusive publishing, we will not invest in a promotional sponsorship nor have a presence at the RWA National Conference.” Several board members resigned over the following months and there was a collective call for the resignation of RWA President Damon Suede and Executive Director Carol Ritter.

Suede’s resignation was announced on Jan. 9. We can only hope that Milan will be reinstated to the board of directors so that she can continue to work towards diversity and inclusiveness, both in the books and the authors who write them.