Activists call on Bay Area bookstores to cancel readings by former Border Patrol agent

Green Apple Books pictured here, on Clement street. Protesters are calling on Green Apple Books on the Park to cancel their upcoming event with former Border Patrol Agent and author Francisco Cantú. Green Apple Books pictured here, on Clement street. Protesters are calling on Green Apple Books on the Park to cancel their upcoming event with former Border Patrol Agent and author Francisco Cantú. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Activists call on Bay Area bookstores to cancel readings by former Border Patrol agent 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

Some activists are calling on two Bay Area bookstores to disinvite Francisco Cantú, a former Border Patrol agent, from his scheduled reading appearances next week.

Cantú, who spent four years in the U.S. Border Patrol after college, will be reading from his memoir, "The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border."

The author is scheduled to read at Green Apple Books (9th Avenue location) on Feb. 19 and East Bay Booksellers on Feb. 20. Some critics say his prose — even amid his position as a progressive Fulbright Fellow and university professor — normalizes and romanticizes the Border Patrol.

One such critic, San Francisco writer Wendy Trevino, says she thinks Cantú does not stand on the side of dismantling the organization and deliberately omits reproachable acts by Border Patrol in his book.

"There is no sympathy to be had for cops," she said. "I'd like to see [the bookstores] cancel the event and to reiterate that we are a sanctuary city both in Oakland and here, and attempt to make this a place where immigrants can be welcome and not terrorized."

Representatives at each bookstore, however, disagree. Emily Ballaine, general manager of Green Apple books, and Brad Johnson, owner of East Bay Booksellers, said they will not cancel his upcoming events.

"Bookstores are supposed to be the spaces where difficult conversations can and should happen," Ballaine said. "The book is a really nuanced look at his own complicity in a flawed system."

Johnson added that he thinks both Cantú and the intention of his book have been misconstrued.

"I think [Cantú] is hurt, on some level, because he actually, ideologically, agrees with the people who are most upset with him," Johnson said. "He was expecting much more push back at these events from a right-wing perspective. Many of the things that they are calling for, he actually agrees with."

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Both Ballaine and Johnson say a fair amount of protest is coming from people who have admitted to not reading the book. Johnson added that East Bay Booksellers are in the process of reaching out to local poets and community members to join in the conversation at the event.

Cantú's memoir recounts how he came to join the Border Patrol at age 23 — to his family's surprise — to better understand his studies in international relations and U.S.-Mexico border policy.

Cantú defended his readings in a Twitter post on Feb. 10:

"To be clear: during my years as a BP agent, I was complicit in perpetuating institutional violence and flawed, deadly policy. My book is about acknowledging that, it's about thinking through the ways we normalize violence and dehumanize migrants as individuals and as a society."

"I'm not here to defend BP," he continued. "But I am here to listen and learn from the ways my writing may be construed to normalize, eroticize or beautify border violence... Ultimately I'm here to work against it."

Representatives of Cantú did not respond to a request for an interview by the time of publication.

Read Annie Vainshtein's latest stories here. Send her news tips at avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @annievain