Lack of Diversity in Children's Books

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

Is Black History Month still relevant?

Why does black history get its own month? Isn't that an example of racism? 

(Well...)

To those questions, I would say no. It is not a representation of racism because the goal of Black History Month is to celebrate the achievements of African Americans for their central roles in U.S. history. If the purpose and result of Black History Month is calling African Americans superior to other races then yes, there is an argument of racism there. However, Black History Month is more about raising awareness for the accomplishments of individuals that are often overlooked in history classes. Answering the presumptuous man in the meme above, the reason why we don't have a white history month specifically is because the achievements and contributions of whites are regularly spoken about and taught in classrooms and everyday lives. There is no need to further highlight them by dedicating a full month to white achievements, we as a society already do that all year long. 

(Do you recognize these prominent figures? Did you learn about them throughout your history classes or just during Black History Month?)

Black History Month was started by historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans and was originally known as "Negro History Week." Their hope is that one day the week would be eliminated because black history is American history.  The group now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) sponsored the first national Negro History Week in 1926 on the second week of February, which coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In response to the Civil Rights Movement and growing black identity, by the late 1960s, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially named February as Black History Month. Other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom have also designated the celebration of black history in a month. 

Arguments FOR Black History Month

• This month can be significant in highlighting the challenges African Americans faced in the past and in modern society.
• Helps people understand the privileges gained by past figures who fought for what they believed in.
• Gives an opportunity to highlight the best of African American culture rather than allow stereotypes (poverty, incarceration rates, drop outs) to persist.
• Since most people are more knowledgeable about "white" history, if there isn't an opportunity to cultivate black history into people within this month, when will people learn about their past?
• Since black history has yet to be incorporated fully into the education curriculum, the original goal of it persists and thus it must remain as an awareness month. 
• There are many months celebrating different cultures and ideas such as Breast Cancer Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, and Women’s History Month.

Arguments AGAINST Black History Month

• Black history is American history, if it is taught like it should be then there is no need to have this month.
• Even though students learn about the achievements of prominent African Americans, they learn little about the background historical context these figures lived in. Not only does this serve little to tie the achievements into time periods, it also trivializes the fact that these people lived during time periods where racism was still verbally and visibly prominent.
• It is racist to designate one month to one race of people when there are plenty of other  races that are not being represented, this further fuels racial inequality.
• Since black history is singled out for one month, the teachings of it is not focused on incorporating it into the curriculum. If Black History Month is taken away, then black history will be taught along the appropriate time line like it should be. 
• Even though there are different months celebrating certain groups and cultures, should history be broken into pieces and delivered to students with emphasis in certain times rather than as a whole.
• History is already taught in sectionalized format and not in a linear, time-oriented way that it is already difficult for students to really comprehend that there are many important points in history that overlap at the same time period. If black history is only being emphasized in one month and with only certain aspects highlighted, students will not be able to fully associate it as a part of American history. 

(Yes? No?)

Writer Raina Kelly asks an interesting question and provides a statement that sums up an interesting idea that goes past the argument of Black History Month, but focuses on the racial disparities and disadvantages present in modern society:

 "Rather than wasting time bemoaning the existence of Black History Month, why don't we use it to proselytize for the issues that need to be more fully covered and understood the other 337 days of the year-such as failing inner-city public schools, institutionalized poverty, health-care disparities, and job discrimination? 

Black History Month is a measure of how fully or accurately our story is being told and 

a reminder of the work yet to be done." 

Resources

Davids, Sherelle. "Why Black History Month Needs to Be Celebrated."Equality and Diversity at LSE. N.p., 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 03 Nov. 2014. <http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/diversity/2011/10/why-black-history-month-needs-to-be-celebrated/>.

History.com Staff. "Black History Month." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month>.

Nittle, Nadra K. "Do We Still Need a Black History Month? Arguments for and Against." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014. <http://racerelations.about.com/od/historyofracerelations/a/IsBlackHistoryMonthRelevant.htm>.

unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors

  Adult illegal immigrants have to face many problems in society. They need to find a shelter to live, a job to feed their family, and medical treatment for any health issues. However, for unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors, they have to deal with more issues. Recently, a large amount of children from Mexico and Central America tried to cross the border and came to the United States without documents. These children do not have parents or guardians accompanying them. Most of them are growing up on the street in their home countries. When they come to America, they have to solve many problems, and education is an important one. It's necessary for them to get opportunities to receive education. Educating new immigrants can also ensure the stability of society. However, in order to educate immigrant students, the government has to face financial problems, since the expenses for education come of the taxes and government subsides. Helping unaccompanied minor children will indirectly reduce the education expenses for local students whose families had paid more taxes. In addition, accepting the undocumented children to the public schools will also cause the problems about immunisation, academic levels, and also security problems, since schools barely know their students' background.Therefore, the policies from illegal immigrant minors are controversial and crucial for the country's development.

  Through the years, the population of children immigrants has increased largely, and most of the children come from Central America. From the statistics of Washington Times, an estimated 90,000 children may illegally cross American threshold by Sept.30, 2014. The population will keep increasing through the next few years. Therefore, the educational system is under the pressure to accept all these students. Depending on the recent policies, immigrant minors have the right to go to the public schools in America, so the states governments will need to afford the educational expense for these children. Most of the time, the government needs to pay an extra 30% of the money to educate non-English speaking students as compared to local english speaking students. Also, in order to accept this large amount of students, the government has to enlarge schools and recruit faculties, because the original classroom can hardly fit all these students. Schools also need more teachers to take care of these students. The health and immune systems need to pay attention to these immigrant children as well. Most of these unaccompanied children are orphans or lack of the supervision of guardians, so they may not receive the immunization as well as essential vaccines. If they come to school with certain viruses, it is pretty easy to spread the disease among students. Lack of the security check of the students will also bring schools trouble. In the Mother Jones, it talks about a story of a 17 years old boy Adrain who came across the border without guardians. He was instigated by a drug trafficker to carry some marijuana to sneak into America. Adrain was poor and did not have a family; he did not have any other choice. Therefore, he went across the border to become one of the unaccompanied immigrant minors. A lot of children are in the same situation as him. They were involved with the local drug dealing and the gangsters. These students' unwell behaviors may bring negative influences to the local public schools' students. Also, most of them did not systematically accept education, so it is really hard to find a proper academic level for them to fit in.

"Two young girls sit in their holding area where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center on June 18, 2014, in Nogales, Arizona." (centre for American progress, by Tom. K Wong)

  Even though accepting unaccompanied illegal immigrant children will bring inconvenience to the educational system, I believe that the country should still provide the opportunities to these children. Educational background is important for a person's development. If the government ignores the existence of these children and refuses to provide them educational opportunities, they may have to live on the street and raise themselves by stealing and begging.Since these children can not get education, they can hardly find any decent jobs, so later their future families' living conditions will stay in a vicious circle. They may cause violence to their neighbourhoods, so the crime rates will increase in the future years. Thus the conflicts among races will be more intensive. Fortunately, now the policies allow these children to stay in the countries and help them to find them sponsors or families. The public education is open to them as well. Even though helping these children will cause the burden of the government, non-profits organizations and agencies still keep working to provide these children better conditions.














Resources

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/child-migrants-surge-unaccompanied-central-america

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/02/cost-educating-new-class-illegal-immigrant-minors-estimated-at-over-760m/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/18/simmons-its-school-time-do-you-know-where-the-ille/?page=all

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2014/07/08/93370/statistical-analysis-shows-that-violence-not-deferred-action-is-behind-the-surge-of-unaccompanied-children-crossing-the-border/

Educational Attainment and Employment Opportunity

In the academic world, the last decade has heard the term “a professional degree is the new undergraduate degree.” This may reign true in a struggling economy with job opportunities becoming both more specialized and scarce by the year. However, this term is implied for the white population. The article “A Black College Student Has the Same Chances as a White High School Dropout, “A recent study done by Young Invincible, a national non-profit aimed at empowering young Americans, revealed a painful reminder of white superiority in the United States. The study, focusing primarily on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as the U.S. Census revealed that African Americans need an extra two years of higher education to reach the same occupational opportunities as their white counterparts.

            The study worked to isolate the effects of race and ethnicity on the probability of obtaining similar jobs. What it revealed was that an African American who has obtained an Associate’s Degree, which requires completion of college courses, will have the same probability of getting a job as a less qualified white person who has a high school diploma. This reveals an unfortunate achievement gap tilted in the white populations favor.

  The numbers in the graph above reveal the inequality between whites and blacks in the hiring process in regards to education attainment. Where the gap is most dramatic is in those with not high school diploma. Blacks with no high school diploma are nearly 15% less likely to receive employment than whites. The graph however reveals a trend. Possibly of obtaining a job seems to become more equal with the higher amount of education received. Blacks with a high school diploma are about 12% less likely to have a job than whites, while having some college lessens the gap to about 10%, associates about 6%, while bachelors lessens the achievement gap to less than 5%. With the highest professional degree, there is a very small gap at about 2%, showing that in today’s society, the way to lessen inequality in the hiring process for blacks and whites is to stay in school and earn advanced degrees, which is more attainable for whites for a number of different reasons including high school quality, connections, etc…

            Naturally, with employment opportunities being more prevalent for whites, unemployment has a more significant impact on the black population. A study done by the Young Invincible group looked at blacks and whites ages 18-34 during the great recession of 2008, and what they found was revealing of racial inequality. Not taking education into account this time, blacks were 16.6% likely to be unemployed, while whites were less than half that number, falling at a 7.1% unemployment rate.

            The graph below reveals that after the peak of the recession, from November of 2007 to May of 2014, though the numbers seemed to move in tandem with one another, whites maintained a higher percentage of employment,  at times as much as 10%, further showing the favoring of the white population in the achievement gap, even during times of economic failure. 
 

School funding

Ever since Brown v. Board of Education, public education has been ruled as having to be “available to all on equal terms.”  However, today, about 40% of all Black and Hispanic students attend school where 90% of their classmates aren’t white. As for white students, on average they attend school where 77% of their classmates are also white. So although some don’t want to believe it, a lot of schools today are still pretty segregated.

A possible reason for this could be, as shown in a survey, that high minority schools (those where 90% or more of the students are nonwhite) spend on average $293 less on their students than all other schools. Also, schools across the country tend to spend $334 more on every white student while black students for the most part don’t get noticed. Therefore, high minority schools are the best place to turn to for them. However, one reason that minority schools spend less on their students is because the teachers there don’t get paid as much as those in mostly white schools. Of the 50 states, 24 of them have a significant decrease for how much they pay nonwhite schools as opposed to white schools. 13 of them have no significant spending change and only 12 actually have a significant increase for the nonwhite schools.

The government has tried to find ways to fix this with some hoping that their acts relating to education would help sustain a more equal balance.  One of the, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act gives money directly to school districts includes financial requirements to prevents districts from using funds improperly.  One of these is that mostly white schools will provide services to students of other races before their funds are distributed. Presumably, this will help teacher in mostly white schools pay more attention to students of other resources and perhaps distribute their money more equally around them. It could also help students of other races feel more comfortable with these types of schools and create an environment where races can truly be equal.  If that’s the case, then although segregation seems to be far from showing any signs of dying down, maybe this will help to at least eliminate some of it gradually.

http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/UnequalEduation.pdf