Author Jacqueline Woodson has responded to a racist joke concerning watermelons made by fellow author Daniel Handler at the National Book Awards earlier this month.

Read More: Daniel Handler, A.K.A. Lemony Snicket, Apologises For Racist Remarks He Made Whilst Hosting National Book Awards.

Handler, the author of A Series of Unfortunate Events who uses the pen name Lemony Snicket, was presenting Woodson with an award at the National Book Awards on 21st November when he made an inappropriate and racist joke. Handler 'joked' about Woodson being allergic to watermelon, the 'humour' deriving from the racist stereotype that African Americans have a particular appreciation for watermelon.

Handler, after being widely criticised on social media, apologised and donated money to a charity which focuses on encouraging diversity in writing and publishing. However, Woodson has discussed the incident in a recent op-ed in the New York Times and appears unwilling to simply brush off the remark.

Woodson, who received the Young People's Literature Prize for her novel Brown Girl Dreaming, addressed the stereotype and its use in Handler's 'joke'. She initially described her physical and emotional "revulsion" to the watermelon and its racist associations. Secondly, she described why she wanted to be a writer; in order to give a voice to different ethnic groups who are so rarely represented in literature and publishing. Thirdly, how Handler's remarks were inappropriate and he seemingly joked at "another's too often painful past." 

Woodson explained how her physical allergic reaction to watermelon is similar to her emotional one. "Perhaps my allergy was actually a deep physical revulsion that came from the psychological impression and weight of the association. Whatever it was, I could no longer eat watermelon," Woodson wrote. 

The author further emphasised how the racist stereotype frequently appeared in popular culture during her childhood, ranging from camp songs with illustrations of "sleepy-looking black people sitting by trees, grinning and eating watermelon", to "the terrifying stories of black men being lynched with watermelons hanging around them". 

As a result of living in the US as an African American, seeing racial stereotypes on a day-to-day basis, and understanding how important having none stereotypical representations of black people in literature is, Woodson decided to write Brown Girl Dreaming. Woodson explained how her novel is about her family but also about African American history.

Woodson stated: "To know that we African-Americans came here enslaved to work until we died but didn't die, and instead grew up to become doctors and teachers, architects and presidents - how can these children not carry this history with them for those many moments when someone will attempt to make light of it, or want them to forget the depth and amazingness of their journey?" 

As Woodson concluded, using the watermelon stereotype as a joke is inappropriate as Handler evidently misunderstood the historical context surrounding the use of the stereotype. She emphasised how the cruelties inflicted on people in history is not a laughing matter. Woodson said: "[Her mission is] to give young people - and all people - a sense of this country's brilliant and brutal history, so that no one ever thinks they can walk onto a stage one evening and laugh at another's too often painful past."