"Offhand, the only North American writers I can think of who have come from a background of rural poverty and gone on to write about it have been Negroes"

This quote by Alden Nowlan speaks with the lack of representation of rural poverty in literature written by North American authors. Nowlan is suggesting that the only authors who have discussed rural poverty from a first-hand experience are those of African descent. This indicates that there is an absence of representation of rural hardship in literature composed by white authors, and that the experiences of African Americans are not being effectively represented in literature. This quote likewise speaks to the systemic racism and inequality that exists in North America, as African Americans are more likely to experience hardship than white Americans. This quote is a tip of the importance of representation in literature, and the need for more authors to blog about their own experiences of rural hardship.