Nearly a week after she announced Jeanine Cummins’ buzzy novel “American Dirt” as her latest book club pick, Oprah Winfrey has broken her silence on the mounting backlash the title has sparked.
In a video shared to her book club Instagram on Sunday, Winfrey commented on the brewing controversy surrounding Cummins’ migrant tale and acknowledged the concerns many in the Latinx community have voiced about the selection. Though hailed by some — including Winfrey — as a moving story of a mother-son duo’s daring journey to the United States, the book has amassed a growing chorus of dissenters who are slamming it as an offensive act of cultural appropriation.
“There’s been a lot of talk about this book, lately, and I just wanted you all to hear, directly from me, that I read an advance copy of ‘American Dirt’ last summer, before it even was an official book,” Winfrey said in the video.
“It was a visceral experience for me — a migrant story being told from a mother’s perspective about the lengths that she would go to to protect her child to get to freedom in America. I was deeply moved. It had me riveted from the very first sentence, and I could hardly wait, really, to share it with all of you.”
Then came the “but.”
“Now, it has become clear to me, from the outpouring — may I say — of very passionate opinions, that this selection has struck an emotional chord and created a need for a deeper, more substantive discussion,” the TV mogul continued.
“When I first started to hear your comments opposing the selection, I was asking the question in earnest: ‘What is offensive?’ I’ve spent the past few days listening to members of the Latinx community to get a greater understanding of their concerns, and I hear them. I do.”
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