Last blog, I
commented on the lack of diversity for Young Adult covers. Along with book
covers, there is a lacking of diversity within. Not only are novels continually
putting whites onto covers, they are also continually only putting whites as
characters. However, for this blog, I am focusing on children books because as
children, absorbing everything they see, hear, read, touch etc can have a
lasting effect unconsciously. Children books even as of today are lacking
diversity. Many young minorities have to go without understanding why they are
not “good” enough to be in a novel when mythical creatures such as dragons, and
goblins are.
This exclusion
from novels may seem insignificant to some, but never or only absorbing a glimpse
of who they are can cause many problems later in the future. As Myers states “A
gap in the much-written-about sense of self-love that comes from recognizing
oneself in a text, from the understanding that your life and lives of the
people like you are worthy of being told, thought about, discussed and even
celebrated” (3). Without having that
reassurance of self-worth minority-children will constantly feel lesser,
ashamed of who they are, and will struggle to find their identity.
Percentages of Diversity in Children's Books
 |
| From the picture below, one can see that only 7.5% of children's books involves coloured children. Showing that the diversity is lacking for all children of colour, not one specific group. |
However, those who
are given that privilege of being written and read about will also have a
confused future. When they “face the realities of our world, our global
economies, our integrations and overlapping, they all do so without a proper
map…They are threatened by the difference and try to wish for a more familiar
form” (Myers 5). Children of colour, however, are force to understand the
boundaries of which the world has created, and therefore “are certain to
imagine themselves well within the borders they are offered, to colour
themselves inside the lines” (Myers 5). Even though the coloured children’s future
will not be as confusing as white children’s, they still will be lost because
they never were written for this world, so how do they write themselves??
Pointing fingers
at who to blame for this lack of diversity will only complicate matters, and
delay the actions that needs to take place. Authors need to work together to
demand diversity, and too constantly keep writing stories which indulges in
diversity. And readers need to read those books to their children and for
themselves. The few books that are published with much diversity needs to heard
about. Such things are hard to accomplish, which is understandable, but isn’t
impossible.
Myers, Christopher. “The Apartheid of
Children’s Literature.” The New York
Times. March 15, 2014. Website. Assessed Nov 18, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/the-apartheid-of-childrens-literature.html?_r=0
Boog Jason. "Artist Illustrates Dramatic Lack of Diversity in Kid's Books." GalleyCat. July 25, 2013. Website. Assessed Nov 18, 2014. http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/illustrated-guide-to-the-diversity-problem-in-kids-books_b74771
Such a subtle but incredibly important aspect to childhood development that I have never thought of before. By increasing the diversity in these everyday aspects of childhood lives then it seems like the amount of racist youth would decline immensely
ReplyDeleteI have never really thought about this before, when I was a child I didn't really think about the people in the book but of the story that it told. Even now I didn't really think about it, and I'm very happy that you wrote about this topic because it is very important in today's society. Children growing up are learning to not read with diversity, and in turn, are not educated with this sense of diversity and when they grow up, I think they would have, like Corey said, less racism
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly important topic to me because I feel that when children are able to connect with the main characters in the book, it makes it easier for them to read. If an entire group of people is largely being ignored, then their children will be less likely to read books because they cannot relate to them. Also having better representation of minorities in stories could lead to an expansion of storylines that could prove to be entertaining.
ReplyDeleteMy mother is a pre-k teacher and between working in her classroom, subbing at the elementary school, and working at summer camps I've seen a lot of what this post brings up. My mother is constantly on the prowl for more diverse children's books. She often finds herself falling back on books about animals, etc. in order to avoid inundating the children with constant images of only white characters. This is also similar to lack of representation in many kids movies.
ReplyDelete