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brer cat

(24,402 posts)
3. I sell vintage and used childrens books,
Sat Nov 7, 2015, 09:26 AM
Nov 2015

and I seldom find books that make people of color human. While there may be diversity in the faces illustrated, the books are written from the standpoint of white culture, and embody the usually white adult authors' concepts of childhood. The idealized family in the Dick and Jane world was never realistic for white children, but just imagine a black child trying to identify with the characters when black faces were simply painted on that very same perfect privileged family. Their blackness, their culture and identity were totally ignored. Moreover, the D&J world went from all white to perfect racial harmony overnight.

Even in the 70s and 80s when many more black-inclusive books were available, the majority seemed to be written for white children and still reflected the white cultural perspective, tainted by stereotypes and portrayals of black children as being the same as white middle class children with no blackness allowed. As the author of the article in the OP stated: "The world is diverse; we need books that tell us the truth about ourselves, and ones that that don’t replicate the facile lies and erasure present in centuries of literature."

It is dismaying that there are still so few children's books available that are black culturally conscious. Children have an absolute right to books that reflect their image; without that how do they know that they are valued in society?


I remember the furor when black and other non-white baby dolls came out HassleCat Nov 2015 #1
I find this interesting leftofcool Nov 2015 #2
I sell vintage and used childrens books, brer cat Nov 2015 #3
One of the other things I find disturbing ismnotwasm Nov 2015 #4
I bought this one for my daughter kwassa Nov 2015 #5
I know what to get 2 brown girls Kind of Blue Nov 2015 #8
This is precisely why I so appreciate Kind of Blue Nov 2015 #6
That is stunningly, gorgeous ismnotwasm Nov 2015 #7
Gawd, I love Gaiman! Kind of Blue Nov 2015 #9
Oh I know right? ismnotwasm Nov 2015 #10
Yup! There's one called buckingham miracleman Kind of Blue Nov 2015 #11
Great article! ismnotwasm Nov 2015 #12
Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»African American»Do black children's lives...»Reply #3