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Jeanine Cummins - Coggle Diagram
Jeanine Cummins
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Controversy
Before the book was set to be released, various Mexican authors began criticizing Cummins, accusing her of appropriating Hispanic culture and filling the story with Mexican stereotypes, others criticize that the book was not intended for Hispanic audiences but rather for white readers.
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The marketing for the book was also received poorly. Cummins was criticized for her use of party centerpieces involving barbed wire which was modelled after the book, and some were also angered to find out that her husband was an illegal Irish immigrant when the marketing made it look like both Cummins and her husband had a personal connection to the material
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Due to the backlash, the author's book tour was subsequently cancelled
Author's Background
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Cummins conducted research for "American Dirt" by visiting orphanages and migrant shelters in Mexico. She also interviewed lawyers who provide legal services for unaccompanied minors. The experiences she had with orphans children and youth most likely influenced her value of children who have lost family which is smililar to Luca who has lost most of his own family. She also visited migrant shelters and talked to humainitarian workers who help migrants which developped her sympathy for people trying to escape from dangerous parts of Mexico.
When Cummins was 16, her 2 cousins Julie and Robin were murdered in Missouri. There was also an attempted murder of her brother. These experiences with death that her and her family have dealt with could relate to the beginning of American Dirt where Lydia and Luca's family is murdered by the cartel
Cummins is from a family with a mixed ethnicity. Her father is Lebanese and her mother is Puerto Rican. She is also married to an Irishman so she has experiences with immigrants. She believes that immigration is a common story and she is very familiar it. This may have spurred her to write about immigration.
Creative Process
Jeanine believed this was a subject that was misrepresented and underrepresented in fiction and felt that in there was a gap in the middle-ground where humanity should have been, leading her to write the book.
She then went to Mexico to see what she could in person, she visited migrant shelters and orphanages in Mexico, met with humanitarian aid workers, interviewed lawyers for minors, and volunteered in a migrant soup kitchen in Tijuana. All of which influenced her perspective on why Mexican and Central Americans would risk their lives to go to the United States for asylum.
She started by reading everything she could find about Central American triangle countries which could lead people to make the journey to the U.S. She also read work made by Central American and Mexican writers such as Luis Alberto Urrea alongside watching documentaries. While doing this she began writing the plot and characters, but found it unsatisfactory.
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Other Information
A cartel is a criminal organization that is mainly responsible for trafficking drugs. As these organizations grow they amass more power over society. Some cartels have amassed enough power over society to control goods and services. When they have control over trades, they are able to gouge consumers. The cartel is not afraid of commiting crimes including murder which affects citizens of Mexico who live the vicinity of cartels. The cartel contributes to the drug problems in the West and creates imbalances in the economy which tilt in their favor. They breed fear and unease in Mexican society.
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