Oni Lasana, one of the email correspondents who was critical of the last line of my review on Sunday of Caryl Phillips's Dancing in the Dark, responded today to the answer I sent her and has given me permission to quote her. Here's what she wrote:
Hi Frank,
I'm surprised you wrote back in such detail to defend your review. Thanks. I understand all points you made, especially about human nature and the definition of shame. However in my experiences, human nature transends one's race.
To be quite frank, as a person of color, I still find your last line in the review to be a subliminal act of sabotage to the author and publisher of the book. What person of any color would want to read a book that will make them feel ashamed. In my humble opinion, the review was excellent, only the last line was in bad taste.
All the best...all the time~
Oni
This got me to thinking. Specifically, I began to think that Oni was right: I certainly didn't intend it -- in fact, it was the opposite of what I intended -- but that last line might very well turn potential readers off. I should have stuck to the fact of my response and not gone beyond it to a judgment about how others should respond. So I'm going to send out a changed version for the KRT wire and have the online version changed as well. I'll stick to how I felt and not tell others how to feel.
Thanks, Oni.
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