“So here’s the thing – this country’s cultural pie gets bigger, not smaller, as more people are allowed to partake of it. When children and young adults see their lives and concerns reflected in the homegrown books they read, the films and television programmes they see, the computer games they play, they feel they and their lives are not invisible. Seeing yourself in the cultural world leads to a sense of better social inclusion and a feeling that you are part of something, that you have a stake in it and wish to add constructively to it. For some – like me when I read The Color Purple at the age of 21 – it plants the seed of an idea that maybe you too could be a part of the rich cultural heritage of your country.”

U.K. children’s author Malorie Blackman, “Racist abuse will not stop me seeking more diversity in children’s literature” (The Guardian)

I love this whole editorial. Read it. It reminds me of how some people argued with me that games like Gone Home were a threat to games like Call of Duty, as if there is a finite amount of representation to go around and giving more to women and queer folks and people of color means taking some away from straight white dudes. The editorial ends with this:

And for those children’s publishers who may feel more diversity in the books they publish is no longer needed in the 21st century, I invite them to read the comments under the Sky interview. They reinforce rather than detract from my arguments. Change is a fact of life. We move forward or we stagnate. My hope is that the UK publishing industry as a whole will embrace that fact.

And that’s exactly right. People sometimes make a similar argument about games, that it doesn’t matter, we’re beyond all this as a society, that we shouldn’t make an issue out of who the protagonists are in the games we play. But just looking at the comments on just about any positive review of Gone Home is enough to demonstrate how much it does matter, and how far we still have to go.

(via squinkyhatesvideogames)