According to bestselling writer James Patterson, the self-proclaimed “world’s bestselling author,” white men are having a hard time finding writing jobs in film, theater, TV and publishing in America. Patterson, a white man who really came to fame by writing novels starring Alex Cross, a crime-solving Black detective, this alleged lack of jobs for white male writers is “just another form of racism.”
It’s an argument we hear way too often from white people who believe the mere presence of people of color can only mean there’s been mistreatment of white people.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Patterson, who has an estimated net worth of $800 million, said, “What’s that all about? Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”
It’s an argument we hear way too often in the United States from white people who believe the mere presence of people of color in rarified or even less rarified spaces can only mean there’s been some mistreatment of white people.
The backlash to Patterson’s stupid statement prompted a mealy-mouthed apology from him on Twitter: “I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.”
Even that apology doesn’t retract Patterson’s original rant. He now says that it might not be racism that’s to blame but that white males as a group are having a hard time finding work, by which he must mean that they’re not dominating entertainment and publishing to the total exclusion of everybody else. Because all the numbers show that white people are over-represented and other races are being wrongly excluded.
In a survey of widely read English language fiction books published by America’s biggest publishing houses, two authors writing for The New York Times found that in 2018, 89% of those authors were white, even though white people make up only 60% of the population. That’s little better than the pair’s finding that between 1950 and 2018, 95% of the authors of such books were white. Also, according to the Diversity Baseline Survey, in 2019, 76% of the publishing industry was white.
White Americans also dominate Hollywood entertainment. While minority audiences buy the most movie tickets, people from such groups accounted for 25.4% of Hollywood directors and 25.9% of film writers in 2020.
Patterson appears to be fondly remembering a more racist America and wishing for its return.
And it’s not just in publishing and entertaining. This is true in just about every desirable white-collar job. White men have advantaged access to high-paying white and blue collar jobs in most states. And even advantages to the better working-class jobs. Who are white men’s greatest competitors? Better educated white women, according to the report “Race, States, and the Mixed Fate of White Men.”
Patterson appears to be fondly remembering a more racist America and wishing for its return.
There’s an old axiom that says, “To the privileged, equality feels like oppression.” But as the above numbers show, things are nowhere near equality and yet Patterson is speaking as if white men are oppressed.
When I hear older white men talking about their fondness for the “good old days” or making this country “great again,” all I hear is that they want to return to a time where white American men controlled everything and deserved everything.
Oh, they moan, if we could only go back to the good old days, when men were men and women were women and we didn’t have to think about color or gender or sexuality. Things were good back then. Never once do they mention their domination did not come through fair competition. White men weren’t on top because they outcompeted other workers. Their dominance came at the barrel of a gun, at the feet of a mob, or through the use of a noose. And via legalized sexism, racism and homophobia. They don’t seem to notice that in that glorious past they remember, white men benefited from others not being allowed to compete. So they didn’t always win by skill. Sometimes they won by default. Their domination did not come through fair competition. White men weren’t on top because they outcompeted other workers. The book on that world is closed, both in fiction and in reality. Cry about it, if you want. The rest of us? We’re glad to be finally getting to a world that at least pretends to give everyone a chance, instead of assuming that only white is right. Instead of pretending that there’s an absence of white male authors, Patterson should acknowledge the absence of writers who aren’t and put his famous Black detective on the case. It won’t take long for Cross to name the culprit as racism: the real racism, not the made-up kind Patterson suggests harms people like himself.
Jesse J. Holland
Jesse J. Holland, an award-winning author, professor and journalist, teaches journalism at the School of Media & Public Affairs at George Washington University and was a longtime congressional, Supreme Court and White House reporter with The Associated Press. He is the author of two African American history books about Washington, D.C., and has written for major entertainment franchises, including Lucasfilm’s "Star Wars," DC Comics’ "Superman" and Marvel’s "Black Panther." 
