Omitting Latinos from the restaurant chain's tribute to the writers among us means more than we think

Chipotle, the national restaurant chain, has created a series of bags and wrappers with quotes from American authors. No Latino author is included. Is the furor over the omission a tempest in a teapot, as columnist Esther J. Cepeda writes in her column? Or is it indicative of a more serious erasure? 

As this editorial goes to press, we have just  heard that the great African-American poet and author, Maya Angelou, has passed away.    She has been so profoundly influential in so many ways, for so many people in our multicultural newsroom that we considered turning this editorial into a tribute to her. 

Ultimately, we decided that there will be many heartfelt tributes to this phenomenal intellect and public figure (look on our website for our own Candace Worthen's piece about what Angelou meant to her) so we will proceed with what was slated to run in this space. And as is often the case, it is not completely unrelated. 

Recently, the Chipotle restaurant chain has been under fire because of its decision to include quotes from American authors on its burrito wrappers and bags in a bid to support literacy and the written word. That in itself is a laudable thing, the problem is that not one U.S. Latino writer was selected. 

Broken Sword Publications editor Santino Rivera was quick to call out the omission on Twitter, and like him, many other Latino voices. But another strain of Latino thinking, like that expressed by nationally syndicated columnist Esther J. Cepeda, is that this is manufactured controversy and a rather silly one at that (read her column on this topic here).

But for us, the view that it is a tempest in a teapot is predicated on ignoring how the same omission is amplified and plays a part in the lack of Latino representation in publishing, in school libraries, ultimately at every juncture where books are counted as an integral part of the intellectual legacy and future of our nation. 

At the same time as the Chipotle omission gained traction on Twitter and other social media, BookExpo America — arguably one of the most important events in the nation for those who publish or purchase books — was being called-out because it is spotlighting books predominantly written, edited and published by whites. This takes on an out-of-publishing industry importance when you realize that the  tens of thousands of buyers who attend the event at the Javits Center in New York include many of the nation's librarians and retailers.

It's a bit like that "if a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?" If there are no books by writers of color on display where those who determine what will be on the shelves can see them, will there be any available to kids in schools or adults in libraries? The answer is no, at least not until now.

Latinos are often accused of neither writing nor reading — so much so, in fact, that the organization L4LL — Latinas for Latino Literacy — promotes Latino literature through summer reading lists and efforts to educate the Latino and non-Latino book buyer about the existence of thousands of already-published books — from children's books to memoirs to non-fiction on intellectually demanding topics. 

Imagine how much easier their work would be if those Chipotle bags had a quote from "The House on Mango Street" author Sandra Cisneros, for example. Or from the novel "Bless Me, Última" by Rudolfo Anaya, which was recently made into a movie that was distributed nationally. Or even a few words from our own rock-star writer, Junot Díaz, whose novels have met with popular and critical acclaim.

We know Latinos have the "goods" because we write and we read and we have the wherewithal to seek out authors and books that others don't have the same sort of access to. And won't have — unless the BEA puts those books out there. Unless Chipotle acknowledges in their otherwise laudable effort, that the Latino voice is part of the American voice.

This is not only a Latino struggle, of course. We are not the first to be banned from classroom shelves, or to be missing from libraries or ignored by the feel-good initiatives of national organizations and businesses.

 Which brings us back to Maya Angelou. Angelou fought for words that  flew right over the gulfs and walls erected between us by racism and willful ignorance. Few of us have her genius, but we can all have her guts and determination. 

So grab that bag with the quotes that don't acknowledge that Latinos are here, and write your own words instead. Quote the words of other Latino writers, no matter how little known. Show it around. Speak it. Share it. 

Because it starts with a sentence, but ends up being a voice. Our voice.