The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens ripped into the American Booksellers Association (ABA) and its CEO Allison Hill after the ABA apologized for accidentally promoting Owens’ book while calling it “racist.”
Owens hit back at the ABA, calling for an apology and accusing Hill and the group of “unspeakable, explicit racism” and slander for their characterization of Owen’s book, “Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation.”
“For those of you that don’t know, the CEO of American Bookseller’s Association (@ABAbook) recently sent around an email, apologizing for promoting my book and labeling my book as racist. The is the CEO, Allison Hill, who sees no irony in calling a black woman racist,” Owens said in a tweet.
“I am calling for a public apology from @ABAbook and Allison Hill. It is an act of unspeakable, explicit racism for a white woman to send around an e-mail slandering and denigrating an autobiographical book from a black woman who came from nothing. We cannot accept this racism,” she added.
I am calling for a public apology from @ABAbook and Allison Hill. It is an act of unspeakable, explicit racism for a white woman to send around an e-mail slandering and denigrating an autobiographical book from a black woman who came from nothing.
We cannot accept this racism. https://t.co/0aCk47Xbvd— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) August 11, 2021
Earlier this year, the ABA confused Owens’ book with another, mistakenly promoting Owens book to hundreds of book stores. As The Daily Wire reported:
In July, the organization mistook a social-justice-themed teen romance titled “Blackout,” for Candace Owens’ best-selling book, “Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation,” sending out a cover image of Owens’ book to approximately 750 stores. The group also included publicity copies of Abigail Shrier’s “Irreversible Damage,” a work critical of the gender transition trend among teen girls.
When leftwing shop-owners and activists erupted in outrage, ABA CEO Allison Hill immediately apologized for the “horrific harm” the mailing caused, calling it a “serious, violent incident.” She also described Owens’ book as “racist.”
Hill then assured retailers that the ABA was putting new procedures in place to prevent future similar mistakes.
In August, Hill wrote a letter apologizing to the booksellers and explaining that an internal audit had found that staffing changes and improper training were to blame for the mistakes. The mistake about Owens’ book, she explained, was due to ignorant staff pulling the cover image of Owens’ book without recognizing the conservative author.
“It was a terrible mistake with terrible racist implications. However, based on our investigation and the demonstrated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitment of these individuals, we have no reason to believe the action was malicious in intention.” Hill said.
“The employees are very apologetic and very committed to vigilance going forward. They have been held accountable and have agreed to training, both on procedures as well as on DEI, and we have added layers of checks and balances to this process,” she added.
Hill said that Shrier’s book was not detected because the mailing system they use has always been “pay-to-play.”
“The box mailing has been an effective mailing service for publishers, ABA, and booksellers. Publishers pay ABA to include titles in the box, and ABA sends it to eligible bookstores” she said. “Until now, no one has ever reviewed or screened the titles submitted by publishers.”
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Source: Dailywire
