Do you listen to @NPRCodeSwitch? Did you hear their episode on the explanatory comma and the ever-present debate of how much context you need/should provide when talking about race and culture?

https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=504482252:505487421

Part of the issue is--if you're explaining it to outsiders, does the thing you're making become for outsiders?

I think this is similar to debates in publishing we've had about italicizing non-English words in books with multi-lingual communities.

At one point does the need (real or perceived) to provide explanation or context become otherizing to the people the book is about?

I've been thinking about this a lot because I've read several #ownvoices adult titles this spring/summer, especially romance, that are full of the explanatory comma.

And it made me really sad because a lot of it was stuff I already knew, or could figure out from context, and it detracted from the story or the writing, and made the whole thing seem very white-gaze-y.

But the author and publisher felt it had to be in there, so white people could read it/understand/relate to it.

And they probably weren't wrong.

So, white readers, be better about this

Because here's the deal--do you know what doesn't get an explanatory comma?

Regency England.

We've taught publishing that we understand England 200+ years ago much better than we understand our neighbors.

And that's not ok. We need to be better about this.