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Victoria’s Robinsons Bookshop apologises after owner’s call for more ‘white kids’ on book covers (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

29 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Victoria’s oldest independent bookshop has apologised after its owner called for more picture books with “just white kids on the cover” and claimed that the chain would stop stocking “woke agenda” content that divided people.

Susanne Horman, the owner of Robinsons Bookshop chain, posted a series of tweets in December where she called for an “substantial shift” in Australian publishing, arguing the focus should be in line with public opinion, requests for books and “for what is good”.

“What’s missing from our bookshelves in store?” Horman wrote in one tweet, before the account was deleted. “Positive male lead characters of any age, any traditional nuclear white family stories, kids picture books with just white kids on the cover, and no wheelchair, rainbow or indigenous art, non indig [sic] aus history.”

Another post read: “Books we don’t need: hate against white Australians, socialist agenda, equity over equality, diversity and inclusion (READ AS anti-white exclusion), left wing govt propaganda. Basically the woke agenda that divides people. Not stocking any of these in 2024.”

In a Facebook post on Sunday night, Robinsons Bookshop said the comments had been “taken out of context” and “misrepresented the views” of the company.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The first tweet is almost satirical, so if it had stopped there I might have bought it being "taken out of context".

I'm curious to know what possible context would make those tweets okay.

[+] [email protected] -9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The context where there was a reasonable study without political bias made that proved there was an "anti-white" movement or intentional pandering for profit.
Hard to find one though it seems, else it would already be in the news.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

There is no such study because there is no 'anti-white movement'. Diversity, equity and inclusivity are not zero-sum games, even if reactionaries like to pretend they are.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Diversity, equity and inclusivity are not zero-sum games

In the sense of individuals treating each other humanely day-to-day, sure. But when viewed through an employer lens, it's a collection of strategies whose purpose is to maintain poor conditions for the coalescence of labor solidarity. There's nothing non-zero-sum about that.

[+] [email protected] -12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But they seem to be for you. You aren't willing to settle for anything less.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I am not sure you know what a zero-sum game is.

[+] [email protected] -10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I proud to say I have no idea. But it sounds like it has something to do with a sum of things that equal zero.
Nobody likes those things which is why we invent more money when there aren't any left.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Let me give you a hint: not wanting to settle for less has exactly nothing to do with zero-sum games. Nothing whatsoever.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Are you sure? Why call it a zero sum then?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Since you proudly professed to have no idea what a zero-sum game is, and I have at least somewhat of an idea what a zero-sum game is - yes, I'm sure.

[+] [email protected] -8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

But because you only have somewhat of an idea is why you can't be sure. The rest of the idea you don't have might hold it instead.
So merely because you know some part of a subject, it doesn't mean you are correct about the entire thing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I'm sorry, you basically have no clucking fue what you're talking about, and you're lecturing me?

Wow. It's like Reddit all over again.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Ffs just google it. And when you do tell me cos I've got no clue what it is.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

A zero-sum game is a situation where one person's gains must be balanced out by another person's losses. This is usually the case in financial markets - since there is no endless money supply, if someone profits from a market movement, someone else makes a loss. There is no change in the overall amount of wealth in play, hence zero-sum - add up the profits and losses and you get zero.

Reactionaries treat things like diversity, equality, anti-racism and such as zero-sum games in the sense that if someone gets more rights, it must come at the cost of someone else. Which is complete and utter rubbish, but it's very useful to stir up resentments against these efforts. The narrative is that equality for women, people of colour, trans people etc means fewer rights for, respectively, men, white people, cis people.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Thanks mate.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 9 months ago

But where's the fun in that? Not knowing leaves so much more room for imagination. And imagination can get wild, if you know what I mean...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The context where the person reading them is also a bigot?

I agree, it was incredibly clear that no one should support "Victoria's favourite bookshop" anymore. The one that really got me was the line about children's books needing to have more white people, nuclear families and less indigenous art on the covers. Sure, white kids don't have any media to look to for role models except for 95 fucking percent of media out there.

I really hope this business crashes and burns and we stop seeing cultivation of this kind of hate in this country.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I mean, it mentions "socialist agenda"

That's a buzzword for "I'm a dumbass"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Same goes for Anti-Woke.

Funny how those people tend to be the same who tell the 'sheep' to 'wake up'.