Naperville Neighbors United hosts author book talk on racism

Dashka Slater, an award-winning author and journalist, visited Naperville on Tuesday, April 21, to discuss her book in a fireside chat at the Naperville Public Library hosted by Naperville Neighbors United.

The book, titled Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, is a narrative nonfiction published in 2023. 

It tells the story of a 2017 incident that occurred in Albany High School in Albany, California, where a teen created an anonymous Instagram page and posted racist and misogynistic memes targeting his classmates.

“The book covers both the impacts and the origins of this account from the perspectives of pretty much everybody, so the creator of the account, the 13 followers of the account, and then the people who were targeted by the account, who were mostly Black girls and one South Asian boy,” Slater said.

The incident shook the small town of Albany, creating tensions amongst community members.

Slater visits Naperville D203 and D204 schools

Slater spent four years writing the book, which she described as “a conversation starter.”

Before speaking at Naperville Public Library, Slater visited Naperville North High School and Gregory Middle School to talk to students about the importance of the novel.

“It really helps people think about the ways in which we have bigotry, and we have bullying, and we have all these different ways of being unkind to one another inside our own communities, in ways that sometimes, you know, it feels easier to ignore,” said Slater.

NNU stresses the importance of proactive dialogue

Naperville Neighbors United officials praised the book as an educational resource on issues that plague communities nationwide.

“What we don’t want is to be reactionary after something happens. We want these discussions to happen throughout the year, every day with parents, with community members, with students, so that we try to avoid them,” said Saily Joshi, a member of NNU.

In addition to Accountable, Slater is the author of “The 57 Bus,” another nonfiction book that tells the story of an agender teen who had their skirt lit ablaze by another teen, causing severe burns.

Slater has also written several children’s books, including the Escargot book series.