My career means, if you're a non-Indian writing about Indians, at least there's one Indian in your rearview mirror.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of representation and perspective in storytelling.
Sherman Alexie's quote highlights the necessity of including authentic voices in narratives about cultures or communities that one does not belong to. It suggests that non-Indians writing about Indians should have at least some level of insight or awareness from an actual Indian perspective, symbolized by the 'one Indian in your rearview mirror'. This metaphor implies that writers should acknowledge and respect the cultural nuances that come from lived experiences rather than relying solely on external observations.
In practice
In a discussion about diversity in literature during a panel, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of cultural representation.
Gordie, the white boy genius, gave me this book by a Russian dude named Tolstoy, who wrote, 'Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Well, I hate to argue with a Russian genius, but Tolstoy didn't know Indians, and he didn't know that all Indian families are unhappy for the same exact reasons: the frikkin' booze.
My wife was the first romantic partner who understood both American and native parts of me - not so much the positive stuff, but the damage.
I draw because words are too unpredictable. I draw because words are too limited. If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture everybody can understand it. If I draw a cartoon of a flower, then every man, woman, and child in the world can look at it and say, "That's a flower.
We all have to find our own ways to say good-bye.
I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don't write to protect them. It's far too late for that. I write to give them weapons-in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.
A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. (young adult). is the Garden of Eden of literature.
Multi-culture is the real culture of the world - the pure race doesnβt exist.
I've lived all over the world, but Harlem is very special to me, and when I decided to open a restaurant near my home, I didn't want it to be business as usual.
Culture is an elevated expression of the inner voice which the different peoples of the Earth have heard in the depths of their being, a voice which conveys the vibrant compassion and wisdom of the cosmic life. For different cultures to engage in interaction is to catalyze each other's souls and foster mutual understanding.
It wasn't until I came to New York and started to see the African American community, but also the Ethiopian community here, and started to eat the food, started to understand the music. I said, you know, I got to go and understand the culture. So me and my sister went.
Hollywood likes to put actors in boxes, and it likes to put Asian actors in really small boxes.
African-Americans are not a monolithic group. So, we tend to talk about the black community, the black culture, the African-American television viewing audience, but there are just as many facets of us as there are other cultures.
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