Esmeralda Bermudez is a Pulitzer Prize winning LA Times reporter whose family fled El Salvador during the violent civil war, and one of American Dirt’s earliest critics.
Here, in a compilation of tweets, we see Esmeralda’s reaction to the book, and to Oprah’s endorsement.
In the weeks that followed Esmeralda’s piece in the LA Times, Oprah’s people contacted her about being one of the token critics on the stage. After listening to what they had to say, Esmeralda concluded that Oprah had no intention of listening to any of the critics. Instead, her intention was to minimize and dismiss them.
Here is her story told via Twitter.
.@Oprah responds to #AmericanDirt uproar: “It has become clear from the outpouring of very passionate opinions that this selection has struck an emotional chord & created a need for a deeper, more substantive discussion.” https://t.co/1naxr5udqX pic.twitter.com/59t588fHUT
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 27, 2020
“When I first started to hear your comments opposing the selection, I was asking the question in earnest: What is offensive?”
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 27, 2020
oof. says it all, right there.
— Pfunk, the shenanigator (@Gluonsrule) January 27, 2020
‘what is offensive?’ pic.twitter.com/WZM3F7t24g
Dear @oprah: Thank you for asking. Here is a good place to begin. @oprahsbookclub #ReadWithUs #AmericanDirt https://t.co/BFzzn8Khzj https://t.co/d103g5Ng7x
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 27, 2020
My response as an immigrant and journalist to a book the industry crowned the great immigrant novel of our times: When Latinos are shut out of the book industry, you end up with ‘American Dirt’ https://t.co/NbNZdfomPC
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 25, 2020
I am an immigrant. My family fled El Salvador with death pounding on our door. The terror, the loss, the injustice of this experience shaped everything about me. I see no part of myself reflected in #AmericanDirt, a book white critics are hailing as the great immigrant novel.
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
What I do see: A book industry that’s so out of touch — that so rarely supports immigrants to tell our own stories — eager to make money off of our suffering with a cheap, stereotypical thrill. #ImNotAmericanDirt. Neither is any immigrant I’ve known in 17 years of journalism.
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
So what should you read to get a true & thoughtful sense of the Latino immigrant experience? I will post a list of books with a Central American focus this evening. Meanwhile, here’s a thread with Mexican American recommendations by @lesbrains https://t.co/NWPh0Hxmvn https://t.co/1zjVxBX6GG
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
Rather than respond to legitimate concerns about how harmful and careless #AmericanDirt is in its portrayal of immigrants, author @jeaninecummins (who used to follow my work) has now blocked me. Because tuning out Latinos is really going to make this mess she created go away. pic.twitter.com/mKYHGRDlrT
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 21, 2020
American Dirt has left us with a textbook example of nearly everything we should avoid when writing about immigrants. It’s hollow, harmful; an adrenaline-packed cartoon. Still, reviewers, with one eye blind & the other missing, are calling THIS👇🏽the “Grapes of Wrath for our time” pic.twitter.com/KvuxDE6rWo
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
You don’t have to be Latino/an immigrant or write about immigrants. I’ve had white mentors who I respect because they’ve worked hard to see past their limitations, to understand the community. The problem is the book arena is ruled by white writers, agents, critics, gatekeepers. pic.twitter.com/t15XoyY9ij
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
What about u? I’d love 2 hear what books u appreciated re: the Latino immigrant experience. Here’s a few more titles:
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
The Wandering Song
The Salvadoran Americans
Enrique’s Journey
Barbarian Diaries
La Bestia
Tattooed Soldier
Dividing the Isthmus
The Devil’s Highway
In an industry where Latinos make up only a tiny percent, our stories are often rejected, shrank down, manipulated, misunderstood, stolen, appropriated, exploited, sanitized, repackaged for easy consumption by white audiences. Most of all, our stories are silenced — invisible.
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
Also coming soon: #AmericanDirt, the movie 🤯🤦🏽♀️ Imperative Entertainment, the production banner behind the Clint Eastwood hit The Mule acquired the rights. Who’s writing the adaptation? The guy who wrote Blood Diamond. https://t.co/Xh22JF5tpf
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 21, 2020
The book industry is spending an incredible amount of money to promote the myth of #AmericanDirt worldwide — in U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, etc. @Flatironbooks paid SEVEN figures for this book in a 9-auction house spanning 3 days, according to @PublishersWkly. Why? pic.twitter.com/WSKw3y0Lxb
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 21, 2020
Critics/book dealers: Ask yourself how ur standards of the immigrant experience got to be so low. What do u know about Latino immigrants beyond the headlines? When is the last time u spoke to one of us, had one of us over 4 dinner? If u give a damn, stop & learn from this moment
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
Those who bother reading this book, do yourself favor. Next time u see a Latino immigrant, don’t assume u know anything about us because u read this novel. You’ll be no different than people who think they know LA because they once saw the city in a cheesy Hollywood movie
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) January 20, 2020
I was contacted by Oprah’s people yesterday about this upcoming show exploring the controversy behind #AmericanDirt. The details of the conversation, at their request, were off the record. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to not to participate in the program. https://t.co/3T0xl5tCPd
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) February 7, 2020
I respect Oprah, but I’m deeply disappointed with where she’s taking this conversation. I don’t believe she’s sincerely stopped to listen to the Latino community about why #AmericanDirt — its characters, scenes, descriptions, massive industry support — are so destructive
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) February 7, 2020
As a non-Latino, non-immigrant, you could read #AmericanDirt a thousand times & never pick up on all the ways this novel (and book industry) failed & hurt Latinos at a time when we’re being demonized, hunted down like prey at Wal-Mart, having acid thrown in our “immigrant” face.
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) February 7, 2020
If Oprah truly wanted to understand the nuances behind this passionate, collective Latinx outcry, she would take time to educate herself about us, to sit and genuinely learn from our experiences in person — not for the cameras, not to make money, but for herself.
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) February 7, 2020
I trust that if Oprah listened & focused on our reality for even a fragment of the time she dedicated to reading the distorted fantasy of #AmericanDirt, she might begin to shed her preconceptions. We don’t deserve to be brown props – not in any fiction book, not on any Oprah show
— Esmeralda Bermudez (@BermudezWrites) February 7, 2020