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ccbc-net digest 12 Nov 2002
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From: Junko Yokota <jyokota>
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:51:07 -0600
While raising biracial children within our multiracial families over the last two decades, we both realized that representation of multiracial families in children's literature has not been easy to find. This inspired us to prepare an article for BookLinks magazine, and editor Laura Tillotson gave permission to excerpt the beginning portion and post it as a contribution to the discussion on Images of Families.
An excerpt from the opening section of: Multiracial Characters in Children?s Literature by Junko Yokota and Shari Frost
(to be published in January 2003 issue of Book Links)
. . . not only do multiracial children have a difficult time finding images of themselves in literature, but they are also often faced with the confusion of classmates who don?t have exposure to images of multiracial families.
When the 2000 U.S. census allowed people for the first time to check more than one category identifying their racial heritage, nearly seven million people, or 2.4 percent of the population, were able to proclaim their multiracial heritage for the first time. Yet, the number of books being published about multiracial characters is nowhere near that percentage.
The first edition of black is brown is tan came out in 1973, and it was groundbreaking in its portrayal of children of mixed racial heritage. Since then the body of literature featuring multiracial characters has grown slowly. There are several ways that multiracial characters are included in books available today. One is for them to be visually depicted in picture books but not addressed in the text. For example, the illustrations in the Ahlbergs? Starting School include what could be multiracial children but the text does not discuss their heritage. Other books celebrate racial diversity within a race, implying multiracial heritage but not directly addressing it. Sandra and Myles Pinkney?s Shades of Black (Scholastic, 2002) and Karen Katz?s The Colors of Us (Holt, 1999) are two such examples. Cataloging information of these books have subject headings that indicate ?mixed-race people,? and the text refers to hues of skin color such as ?cinnamon, chocolate, and honey.? Multiracial heritage is more frequently dealt with directly in books for older adolescents. Often the issue is a major point of the story or the primary focus of a nonfiction book. For example, Gaskins? What Are You? Voices of Mixed-Race Young People offers 80 different perspectives on what it?s like to grow up as a mixed-race person, citing attitudes displayed by others, as well as how those profiled have established their own identities.
Received on Tue 12 Nov 2002 09:51:07 PM CST
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:51:07 -0600
While raising biracial children within our multiracial families over the last two decades, we both realized that representation of multiracial families in children's literature has not been easy to find. This inspired us to prepare an article for BookLinks magazine, and editor Laura Tillotson gave permission to excerpt the beginning portion and post it as a contribution to the discussion on Images of Families.
An excerpt from the opening section of: Multiracial Characters in Children?s Literature by Junko Yokota and Shari Frost
(to be published in January 2003 issue of Book Links)
. . . not only do multiracial children have a difficult time finding images of themselves in literature, but they are also often faced with the confusion of classmates who don?t have exposure to images of multiracial families.
When the 2000 U.S. census allowed people for the first time to check more than one category identifying their racial heritage, nearly seven million people, or 2.4 percent of the population, were able to proclaim their multiracial heritage for the first time. Yet, the number of books being published about multiracial characters is nowhere near that percentage.
The first edition of black is brown is tan came out in 1973, and it was groundbreaking in its portrayal of children of mixed racial heritage. Since then the body of literature featuring multiracial characters has grown slowly. There are several ways that multiracial characters are included in books available today. One is for them to be visually depicted in picture books but not addressed in the text. For example, the illustrations in the Ahlbergs? Starting School include what could be multiracial children but the text does not discuss their heritage. Other books celebrate racial diversity within a race, implying multiracial heritage but not directly addressing it. Sandra and Myles Pinkney?s Shades of Black (Scholastic, 2002) and Karen Katz?s The Colors of Us (Holt, 1999) are two such examples. Cataloging information of these books have subject headings that indicate ?mixed-race people,? and the text refers to hues of skin color such as ?cinnamon, chocolate, and honey.? Multiracial heritage is more frequently dealt with directly in books for older adolescents. Often the issue is a major point of the story or the primary focus of a nonfiction book. For example, Gaskins? What Are You? Voices of Mixed-Race Young People offers 80 different perspectives on what it?s like to grow up as a mixed-race person, citing attitudes displayed by others, as well as how those profiled have established their own identities.
Received on Tue 12 Nov 2002 09:51:07 PM CST
