What would you say if you learned the CEO of a prominent bookselling consortium was caught emailing racist images?

If you’re unsure, here’s your opportunity to find out.

On Wednesday, Allison Hill — chief executive officer for nonprofit trade group American Booksellers Association — issued a letter of apology.

The head of the independent book store-promoting organization expressed remorse over incorporating a particular book cover in a collection on the official website.

As reported by The Daily Wire, the post was meant to provide publicity for black fiction writers.

Allison had intended to spotlight a teen romance collection by authors Dhonielle Clayton, Angie Thomas, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon.

But an identically-titled book — Blackout — accidentally ended up in the mix.

The problem: That particular work came courtesy of conservative Candace Owens.

Release date: 15th September 2020🎉
The book "Blackout" by @RealCandaceO is a MUST read. #blackout pic.twitter.com/2ouaZkloDm

— ⭐Rose C. Obiora💙 (@nazarose_) September 3, 2020

Allison is particularly ridden with guilt, as her error was “egregious” and “harmful.”

Worse, it caused “violence and pain.”

And why? As it turns out, Candace’s book is “racist.”

It’s not the first time the pundit’s been accused of the “R” word.

In fact, as I covered previously, in July of 2018, she went to breakfast with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The pair were met with crowing Antifa resistance at the chicken and waffles joint.

That mob didn’t mince words — the crew appeared to accuse Candace of white supremacy:

[Language Warning]

Naturally, the American Booksellers Association wouldn’t want to promote a black white supremacist.

Allison promised to put failsafes in place to prevent accidents like mistakenly promoting Candace in the future:

“I am working with our team to determine the root cause as well as the steps ABA needs to take to be held accountable and to make changes. It is the next actions I take and that the ABA team takes that are critical now.”

We’ve reached an interesting place, culturally speaking.

Book burning was once thought of as a frightening thing.

Freedom of expression and an open forum for discussion of ideas, the old way of thinking went, were American virtues.

But now, books may be banned for your protection.

For more, see “A Bevy of Books May Go Bye-Bye: Amazon Institutes a Moratorium on ‘Hate Speech’ for Written Works.”

And for fans of vigilanteism, in February, there was this:

Tennessee Librarian Fired for Burning City-Owned Books by Conservative Authors – on Instagram
https://t.co/3x7pPPHH28

— RedState (@RedState) February 21, 2021

Back to Allison, she laid out her improved method of analysis where support for the written word’s concerned.

There’ll be no more violence:

“The process to inform those steps will include listening to impacted members; conferring with members of ABA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee; institutionalizing more of our diversity, equity, and inclusion work; revising our internal procedures and checks and balances; discussing with our team the impact of this violence on our members and our colleagues; changing the submission, vetting, and distribution process for the box mailing program; automating some of our online content to eliminate unconscious bias; reviewing all of our programs and communication; and more.”

And for those just not getting it:

“Though we know the harm these actions caused is obvious to those impacted and many others, we will also share resources that speak to why these acts are violent.”

Bonus.

In the meantime, if you’re a collector of conservative books, you might wanna put the pedal to the medal on your purchases. You never know when the availability of content could wither.

When they start coming for Dr. Seuss, most anything goes — or could go…into the bonfire for your betterment.

-ALEX

See more pieces from me:

Rescue Workers Find Screaming Woman Stuck Between Buildings, Naked — and You Can Guess Where

COVID and Cannabis: California Town Offers Free Joints for Getting Jabbed

California School District Makes History With Mandatory CRT-Based Program for Preschoolers

Find all my RedState work here.

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