What percentage of books you own are by white authors?

[Savonarola]

I came across this quote by author Nalo Hopkinson and wondered how Languish fell in:

"There are a lot of readers who pride themselves on not paying attention to the identities of their favorite writers. Some of them think this means they're not prejudiced. I don't know anyone who isn't, myself included. But let's say for argument's sake that those particular readers in fact are not prejudiced.

"How many books by writers of color do you think you'll find on their bookshelves? I'd lay odds that if there are any at all, they will be far outnumbered by the books by white authors. Not necessarily because those readers are deliberately choosing mostly white/male authors. They don't have to. The status quo does it for them.

"So those readers' self-satisfied 'I don't know' is really an 'I don't care enough to look beyond my nose.' And that's cool. So many causes, so little time. But don't pretend that indifference and an unwillingness to make positive change constitute enlightenment."

For my part I'd estimate about 75% of my books are by white authors.  A large percentage of my math and engineering books are by Asian authors, and I have a large collection of manga I acquired as a young man ( ).  For African Americans I have some books by Harlem Renaissance authors and early civil rights leaders.  I do have a growing collection of Hispanic authors; (it's funny to think of Castro's BFF  Gabriel García Márquez, or first cousin once removed of the former President of Chile, Isabel Allende, as being "Minority" writers, but by America's wacky standards...)  I don't think I own anything by a sub-saharan African author or a Native American writer.

[Drakken]

Oh, come on.

[garbon]

I've no idea. I guess most but I haven't looked up most of their ethnicities.

[Oexmelin]

Oh, come on.

?

[CountDeMoney]

Still haven't figured out how to properly index "Cracker, Creepy Ass" under Dewey or the Library of Congress catalog.

[Zanza]

I've no idea. I guess most but I haven't looked up most of their ethnicities.

Same here for English language books. For books in German it's probably nearly all.

[katmai]

Reading is for suckers.

[Drakken]

Oh, come on.

?

I refuse to check whether I am a subconsciously a white supremacist by accounting for the skin color of the authors of the books I own. Sorry, but no.

[The Brain]

What would positive change be in this context?

[Oexmelin]

Suit yourself.

I would argue that the point is not to discover whether you are a "subconsciously white supremacist", but whether or not there are little to no "non-white / non-western" authors in what you read. I would suggest that asking yourself why is a good exercise quite independent from whether you want to self-flagellate about it, or pose as a champion of racial justice. I would use it to see if I am missing out on good stuff simply because of a variety of social dynamics I may not have been aware of. Perhaps you have read mostly classics within the "Western Canon"? Perhaps you are simply not aware of good writers, because they are not part of your national tradition, or not read in your social circle, and therefore, not recommended.  Perhaps it just never was assigned in school (and then, why?).

There are myriads of reasons why one may have mostly books by white authors, and realizing that may lead you to perhaps, seek out something else, just in case you are missing out on a specific perspective. Or don't, out of some principled refusal for self-examination.   

[HVC]

of the authors whose ethnicity i know, 100%, but I don't know all their ethnicities.

[Oexmelin]

What would positive change be in this context?

Trying something new? Discovering new authors? New thinkers?

[celedhring]

I have a handful of books from Asian authors, besides that... 90% I guess? I won't honestly waste time googling whether the authors of one of my 10000000000 trashy fantasy books might be black.

Interestingly, my movie collection is far more diverse. But that's because I'm more of a movie geek than a book geek, I guess, and I actively seek out non-Western films.

[alfred russel]

I only have one book.* The Bible.** I read it every day*** and it is all I need.****

The race of the author(s) is ???.

*This is not true.
**I don't own a Bible.
***This is not true.
****This is not true.

[Habbaku]

I have several works from non-white authors, some of whom (Octavia Butler, for instance) I deliberately sought out because they were black authors within a genre that doesn't have many prominent black writers.

Of my histories, however, I would be very surprised to find more than the occasional tome that wasn't by a white person, though many are from women (C.V. Wedgwood, Alison Weir, etc.).