Josephy visited several leading Manhattan bookstores and…
![“Josephy visited several leading Manhattan bookstores and sadly discovered the explanation [from his agent] to be generally correct; books about Indians were shelved in the back of the stores alongside books about natural history, dinosaurs, plants, birds, and animals rather than being placed…” quote by Bobby Bridger](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/cb5/bobby-bridger-153131_books_josephy-visited-several-leading-manhatta_1664837.jpg)
““Josephy visited several leading Manhattan bookstores and sadly discovered the explanation [from his agent] to be generally correct; books about Indians were shelved in the back of the stores alongside books about natural history, dinosaurs, plants, birds, and animals rather than being placed alongside biographies and histories of Americans, Europeans, Asians, Africans, and other great world cultures. Puzzled, Josephy began asking bookstore managers for a justification of this marketing tactic and was informed that Indian books had “just always been placed there.” The longer he pondered booksellers’ indifference toward Indians, the more annoyed Josephy became with the realization that bookstore marketing tactics were simply a reflection of the pervasive thinking throughout the United States in 1961: Americans believed Indians to be a vanished people. “Thinking about it made me angry,” Josephy wrote in his autobiography, “and I vowed that someday, some way, I would do something about this ignorant insult.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The author laments the marginalization of Native American literature, exposing systemic cultural erasure.
In simple terms: Native books are sidelined.
Key Takeaway
Advocate for representation.
Themes
cultural bias
representation
literature
history
social injustice
Mood
angry
determined
Type
Books:1
History:1
Marketing:1
Native american:1
Natural history:0
Publishing:1
Josephy Wrote:0
Pondered Booksellers:0
Books Indians:0
Believed Indians:0
Booksellers Indifference:0
When to use this quote
- bookstore curation
- education
- activism
Key Concepts
systemic racism
media studies
Questions to Reflect On
- How can readers support marginalized voices?
- What actions can institutions take to change placement?
A Different Perspective
Complex market forces also play a role.