Racial Reversals in Young Adult Novels

As discussed in the Saxton, Roediger, and Smulyan readings, the hypothetical outcomes of interchangeability/reversal of race have long been a subject of fixation. 

In the case of popular culture, the English young adult novel series Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman reflects an alternative hypothesized world that resembles a racist dystopia with a plot line that is somewhat Romeo and Juliet-esque.  Blackman’s website summarizes her first novel in the following manner: “Sephy is a Cross – a member of the dark-skinned ruling class.  Callum is a nought – a ‘colourless’ member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses… Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity by Noughts, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum.”

Contrary to blackface mintrelsy performances, Blackman’s novels primarily use class and wealth distinctions rather than the actual physical depiction of race (“blacking up”) in order to portray the reversal of racial roles.  In doing so, she reflects the horrors of her created racist dystopia with a historical background in segregation and slavery that is eerily reminiscent of the historical and current unresolved issues of the West.  While blackface minstrelsy appropriates and exoticizes, Blackman aims to use “two different points of view (Callum and Sephy’s) to show how our perspectives colour our thinking [of society].”  Blackman tries to demonstrate that, unlike blackface minstrelsy’s exploitive and misrepresentative methods, Callum and Sephy embody the adage: “you can’t really know someone until you have walked in their shoes.” 

Despite Blackman’s efforts to change racial attitudes in the Western World and her widespread success in the U.K., the series was nowhere as successful in the US market.  British publishers have attributed the fact to “US sensibility about fiction.”  Is this true? What other factors may have contributed to the failure of the series’ integration into the American market?  Are such issues a necessary part of a young adult’s awareness?