A complaint letter to Borders - 1/21/09

My letter:

The last time I visited a Borders store in person, I noticed that most of the novels written by African American women had been relegated to the 'African American' section. I assume that the company made this change for ease of browsing, but as an avid reader and a Black woman, I assure you that when I want to find a book by, say, Alice Walker or Zora Neale Hurston, their Blackness is not their most salient feature to me. These authors write beautifully about the human experience, not some strange subset of it to be ghettoized.

It would be more appropriate if Borders included in the 'African American' section those works of non-fiction that are specifically about race identification. African American fiction should be included in the 'fiction' section of the store. It is not the responsibility of Borders to determine the literary canon for the American public.

As a customer, I would like to see these changes made.

Thank you for your time,
Manda

The reply:

hank you for contacting Borders Customer Care with your concerns about the categorization of this title.

The majority of titles purchased for our stores are actually classified by the publishers. If a publisher sends our buyers a catalog that defines a book as a certain subject, the buyers generally follow those guidelines. If the description of the book does not seem to match the subject, the buyer may request a copy of the book and review it. A judgment may then be made based on what is currently in the suggested section and where other titles by the same author may be shelved. In addition, authors may notify us that their book is shelved incorrectly and the buyers will adjust the placement of the title.

I hope that this information is helpful. Thank you for taking an interest in our stores and sending us your feedback.

Sincerely,

Kia

Borders Customer Care
http://www.bordersstores.com

I think this is bull, but whatever...