How can white kids comprehend what children of color go through every day in a divided society? Having that all important conversation of racism with people not you is difficult but important. One of the answers, of course, can be found in the pages of kids' books. Below are a few that just might break a barrier or two, leading to better understanding all around.
Patricia Polacco's Pink and Say is a timeless story based around the Civil War that details a story of a black family who put their life in danger to care for a young white boy who was wounded. Great for taking a small look into racism, Polacco's book will help your children see just how dangerous it was to be caring as a person of color.
The Jacket by Andrew Clements tells a story that many children of color have experienced with being accused of something negative based off of their skin color. Delivering a walk into a well-needed learning opportunity, The Jacket is a great book for showing children the ugly truth about prejudice.
Under the Same Skytells a perfect story of white privilege and entitlement when 14-year-old Joe Pedersen is forced to work on his father's farm with the hired Mexican laborers. An important story on racism and truth, Cynthia DeFelice's look into how those that are different than us is well needed within today's youth.
Jacqueline Woodson's The Other Side is a story of a friendship not held by the restraints of color and displays a very realistic lesson on how racism is taught to the youth. A brown girl named Clover and a white girl named Anna are divided by their town's segregation fence. They sit together on top of the fence and become friends.
There are so many fine examples of books similar to these that will enlighten all kids of middle years. Have a look for yourself. Better yet, take that callow-aged kid with you, and grow together!
We Need Diverse Books is a grassroots organization created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature. We Need Diverse Books is committed to the ideal that embracing diversity will lead to acceptance, empathy, and ultimately equality. Their mission statement is:
We recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities. Our mission is to promote or amplify diversification efforts and increase visibility for diverse books and authors, with a goal of empowering a wide range of readers in the process.
The team have launched a crowdfunding venture on Indiegogo and hope to raise $100,000.00 that will be used towards several different projects. Future plans include bringing diverse books and authors into disadvantaged schools, initiating the Walter Dean Myers Award & Grant program, and launching the inaugural Kidlit Diversity Festival in Washington, D.C.
Have a look at a video about the campaign above; it features appearances from Matt de la Peña, John Green, Marie Lu, Cindy Pon, Grace Lin, Lamar Giles, Tim Federle, Jacqueline Woodson, and Arthur Levine. Follow this link to read a transcript. What do you think?
Patricia Polacco's Pink and Say is a timeless story based around the Civil War that details a story of a black family who put their life in danger to care for a young white boy who was wounded. Great for taking a small look into racism, Polacco's book will help your children see just how dangerous it was to be caring as a person of color.
Jacqueline Woodson's The Other Side is a story of a friendship not held by the restraints of color and displays a very realistic lesson on how racism is taught to the youth. A brown girl named Clover and a white girl named Anna are divided by their town's segregation fence. They sit together on top of the fence and become friends.
