I said it before and I’m saying it again but what exactly is the point of these shelves if episode is going to feature stories without any actual diversity? I think it’s insulting to have predominantly white characters in a shelf of this theme just because it’s written by an Asian author. It feels like a slap in the face. No one should be featured in a diversity shelf just because of what they are but rather what they write! It makes no sense to me at all! Just watch the Asian shelf be ruined because of this. Also if any of you are Asian authors and have any respect for poc you should not recommend your story if it doesn’t actually have Asian representation in the story.
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The stories should center on the culture or heritage of the specific ethnicity, not the author. And the stories for the Arab shelf are just the same cliche stories. They’re not original plots at all. Atleast feature ones that actually interest readers and fits the shelf. 
Episode is just a f*cking idiot for doing it for the author. The Black History Month shelf was the only good one until the last round.
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I disagree, I actually think it’s MORE important to feature diverse authors than diverse fictional characters. I think diversity can be a little hollow if a company/person just creates diverse characters when the people behind it are all white/men/etc. Of course characters are important, but it’s MORE important imo to empower real people of all walks of life to create stories.
That said, I don’t know if that should be the purpose of the diversity shelves. I think most people would want those stories to be ABOUT [specific culture/race] and not written by [specific culture/race] but about a different race. Idk. But I do think it’s important to feature diverse authors but maybe the shelves need to be more specific about what their aims are.
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I agree 100%. Episode is a visual story-telling app, and when I see shelves specifically pertaining to a certain group of people, I expect the stories to have included people of that group too. I mean it could literally be the same thing for women’s history month. Even if stories consisting of a girl MC dominate the app, would you add a story about a male MC with predominantly male characters just because the author is a female? It simply wouldn’t make sense. It’s women’s history month for a reason, for Gods sake, I would LOVE to see stories revolve around strong women only. Same thing with Arab History Month, Black History Month, Hispanic, Asian etc. Why the hell would I want to see a story that revolves around white people in a shelf that has nothing to do with that specific group of race?
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How? We’re reading the stories, not learning about the authors. It makes no sense to feature the person for the race of the author.
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I kind of feel a mixture about this. I mean I understand wanting to have Arab voices in stories but why can’t we also celebrate Arab authors?
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Write for representation, not the representer.
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I disagree what does diversity mean?
understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along. the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.
Diversity isn’t about skin colour it’s about everyone of every race of every ability and disability all sexual preferences.
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I agree with that statement. It shouldn’t matter by the author, this is an app for STORIES! WE’RE READING THE STORIES FOR THE SHELF.
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yeah well this is a story telling app so the work itself should be judged not the race of the author. I personally relate a lot more to characters with well written poc in movies, than I ever do knowing that a person behind a generic white story/movie just so happens to be a poc. This literally accomplishes nothing.
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So you’ll agree we need diversity in authors but not the stories? Some of yall make no sense. So an author can just be Arab but their story doesn’t have any of them but they should just be featured for being Arab right? 
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Can I ask you who said this? The OP never stated diversity was only about being black–we’re not that dumb, we know that. But with these shelves celebrating whatever heritage/ethnicity/race there is, it definitely does add diversity to the million stories with predominantly white MCs there is
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It’s so difficult for me because I want to see the different Arab authors that are out there but I also don’t wanna see their stories if it’s just all white washed
My mind is just like ahhhhh
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Absolutely. The Asian Heritage Month shelf had no Indians, Filipinos, Malays, Thais, Yemenis, Jordanians, or any other races outside of Southeast Asia.
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I mean if they are highlighting arab voices. I don’t think poc have a hard time doing well in this app as long as they fit a certain mold. Just look at the trending section and the authors in it.
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Stupid. 
So stupid.
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I didn’t mean to use the term black in this particular way. That was bad wording on my part and I’m sorry. However they clearly said
Why is it insulting to have white characters when it’s about diversity?
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Oh, for sure. And disrespectful.
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She means just all white characters in a story. If it’s all just white characters, full bodied, and heterosexual, which it usually is, in a story, it isn’t diverse.
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Personally I think its the authors who are breaking the cliché stereotypes and taking risks to add diversity in the ACTUAL stories who should be celebrated in diversity shelves. These are the authors who are looking out to make everyone feel included and these are the authors who should be celebrated not authors who just so happen to be a part of a certain group but do absolutely nothing to make others feel more included.
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