From: Eleanora E. Tate <eetate>
Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 17:59:42 -0400

At 12:58 PM 5/6/1999 00, Maia wrote in part, about the "concern of some African American parents about books such as Mildred Taylor's being taught since they deal so much with the problems, and they don't want to perpetuate the negative image of a whole people's experience."

By now, enough books by African American authors are being published to offer the whole range of experience, or most of it. Taylor's books, in my august opinion, since my books were influenced by her powerfulness, should be an integral part of every classroom. What happened to so many African American families during the Depression still happens today in turns of the struggle over/loss of Black-owned land, the importance of recognizing racism in its many, many forms, and the importance of the family remaining together. In my book The Secret of Gumbo Grove, a parent who loved the book told me that a few parents had difficulty with it because in it one African American character called another a (not a "curse word") name. Eleanora E. Tate Eleanora E. Tate, Author Po Box 3581 Morehead City, North Carolina 28557
_Don't Split the Pole: Tales of Down-Home Folk Wisdom_ (Now in paperback) Visit my web pages at: http://www.aalbc.com/eleanora.htm http://www.randomhouse.com/teachersbdd/tate.html
Received on Thu 06 May 1999 04:59:42 PM CDT