A white author writing about white characters who does not have any interaction with minorities is wrong, as it erases the minorities experience.
A white author who writes about white characters who do interact with minorities is wrong, as they are exploiting the minorities and othering them, in the way Said criticizes in Orientalism.
A white author who writes about non-white characters is guilty of cultural appropriation, and his books should be pulped. Yes, a book was withdrawn because people objected to the authors race. First Kirkus said it was a “compassionate, forceful look at the heartbreak and choices these black boys and men face at the lethal intersection of poverty and gang culture”, then it discovered the author was not black and "after consultation" the book was withdrawn. Don't expect this to be a topic at next years "Banned Books" week, not expect mention of other books that were withdrawn, like "A Birthday Cake for George Washington". These books, which are actually no longer available, do not count as banned, because they were banned for good reasons.
Consider the Slate's position on Michael Chabon's book
For all his skills as a novelist, Chabon’s whiteness must be reckoned as a disability when it comes to writing about race, an asterisk next to his name. Either he’s crazy for wanting to “go there,” or, like a toddler learning how to walk, he is to be applauded just for getting in a few good steps before the inevitable stumble. In an otherwise positive review, Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times notes that Chabon is trying too hard “to sound like he was from the ’hood.” Slate’s own Troy Patterson gently chides Chabon for simplifying race, not because of his whiteness per se, but because of his naive and overly idealistic Berkeley-ness, which really just calling out one particular brand of whiteness.
Another example is The Help, the Root writes
"Despite efforts to market the book and the film as a progressive story of triumph over racial injustice, The Help distorts, ignores and trivializes the experiences of black domestic workers," the Association of Black Women Historians said in a scathing statement in response to the film, adding that it "makes light of black women's fears and vulnerabilities turning them into moments of comic relief."
This extends to non-fiction
In another recent example, bookstores in LA were under siege for presenting a book talk with the two writers behind the popular blog Thug Kitchen. Their work focuses on healthy, mostly-vegan recipes written with all sorts of slang and NSFW language.
Why the big to-do? Thug Kitchen’s writers are White, a fact that they didn’t disclose until their book release last year. Many readers were shocked and suddenly offended…I even remember feeling let down. Thug Kitchen seemed to carry such greater meaning to me when it was powered by African American writers, arguing for fresh, whole-food recipes and an end to canned cranberry sauce.
White authors are not allowed write books. There needs to be space for writers of color, and this means that:
Not to alarm you, but I probably want you to quit your job, or at least take a demotion. Statistically speaking, you are probably taking up room that should go to someone else. If you are a white cis man (meaning you identify as male and you were assigned male at birth) you almost certainly should resign from your position of power. That’s right, please quit.
As the New Republic writes:
We still live in a culture in which white people are very seldom stopped from doing anything they want to do, and when they are stopped or challenged, get extraordinarily upset about it.
The Guardian adds
But there is a bigger and broader issue, one that, for me, is more emotive. Cultural appropriation is a “thing”, because of our histories. The history of colonisation, where everything was taken from a people, the world over. Land, wealth, dignity … and now identity is to be taken as well?