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Re: Reading Diversity Analysis
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From: Colleen Kelley <cakelley_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:22:49 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;ba ckground-color: #ffffff;color: black;}
Your Storie s
This discussion has been very valuable to me. Thank you to Sarah Park Dahlen and Uma Krishnaswami for sharing their childhood reading experiences and their insights regarding the multicultural literature, and for Chimamanda Adichie’s T he Danger of a Single Story . You have enriched me.
Self-report data is powerful. Even one personal story is po werful for me. With enough stories, we do have numbers, if numbers are need ed. I now realize that I have never asked my friends and colleagues of colo r, or those of cultural backgrounds different from mine, “What was your reading experience as a child? What were your favorite books?” I never thought to ask these questions, but I will now.
Thank you also to Charles Bayless for causing me to gi ve more thought to these issues, and for provoking further dialogue.
Articles
The article that Sarah referenced about reaction to the Hunger Games movie shocked me. I wondered how many people had this type of reaction, how they came to think and feel this way, and whether they live in a certain part of the United St ates, or are “in a neighborhood near me.”
The article referenced another article, “I See Whit e People: Hunger Games and a B rief History of Cultural Whitewashing.” This article discusses the idea that some white readers “default to white,” meaning th ey assume that the characters in a story they are reading are white, someti mes even when another color is explicitly named (
istory-of-cultural-whitewashing ).
I found that the study about mascots (and posters) sh owed that mascots could lower self-esteem, but only speculated about what c ould raise it. I found a couple of articles that cite studies showing that:
both reading achievement and r eading motivation are affected by the availability of literature that offer s children “personal stories, a view of their cultural surroundings , and insight on themselves” (Heflin and Barksdale-Ladd 2001, 810). For children of color this means multicultural literature. With repeated e xposure to engaging literature in which children of color find characters a nd a context that they can recognize and to which they can relate, reading is more likely be an appealing and successful activity (Bell and Clark 1998 ; Gangi 2008; Heflin and Barksdale-Ladd 2001).
The articles reference related studi es as well. The article from which I excerpted, and a related article, are:
“Using a Critical Race Theory Framework to Ex amine Transitional Books” (
http://www.ala.org/aasl/aasl )
“Supporting the Literacy Needs of African Ame rican Transitional Readers”
( http://www.t rican-transitional-readers/ )
Cultural Ba ckground of Americans
These articles and our discussion made me wonder about the ancestry of current Americans. I am listing below the sources I found. I re alize that each of these “populations” comprise many differ ent and distinct cultures, and that it is important to also learn about cul tures possibly not reflected in any American’s ancestry. The questi ons I have now are (1) what reading materials are needed for our diverse cu ltures, and (2) how do we provide what is needed?
http://en.wikiped
with a discussion of this map here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik
and an update for the 2010 census in a March 2012 art icle in Adweek here:
http://www.adweek.com/s
and information on the rapid growth of the Hispanic a nd Asian populations:
http://www.census.gov/n
“Lo w Barriers to Writing and Publishing”
The “hot mess” article tells a story I also hear from white authors. I would think that the barriers and number of rej ections might be even higher for multicultural books, given the relatively small numbers that are published. I recently read a blog by a dedicate d agent who believed in a manuscript so much that she finally sold it after 127 rejections! One online site I’ve seen is particularly entertai ning, because it provides some of the rejection comments now-well-known boo ks received. For example, Irving Stone’s book about Vincent Van Gog h, Lust for Life , was rejected 16 times. One editor commented that the book was, “a long, dull no vel about an artist.” It eventually sold 25 million copies, accordi ng to the site.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2
Given this situation, has anyone considered an online or eB ook universe parallel to traditional publications, where more multicultural stories can be shared in a format for the young people who hunger for them ?
Colleen Kelley
-----Original Message----- From: Sarah
Park Dahlen Sent: Feb 28, 2013 2:37 PM To: ccbc- net_at_lists.wisc.edu Subject: Re:
Reading Diversity Analysis
While I do believe that numbers matter (after all, the CCBC keeps tabs on insider/outsider authorship and publications by and about non-white authors - thank you!), I strongly agree with Colleen Kelle y that personal experiences can provide powerful data. Colleen, thank you f or your thoughtful email. You asked for personal experiences; here it is. T he absence or marginalization of Korean Americans in children's literature propelled me into a career studying children's literature, and a career mak ing sure that future children's librarians are aware of issues of race and diversity in children's literature.
The only 2 books I remember from my childhood depicting Asian American s were 1) The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
and 2) Baby-Sitters Club
. My experiences as a Korean Americ an, while they could resonate somewhat with those two characters, don't do so completely. As Colleen said, color (and I'll add race, ethnicity, ethnon ational affiliation, etc.) is one of the most obvious and common ways we id entify ourselves. Despite some commonalities, Korean, Chinese and Japanese people tend to be very clear that we are not the same people group. It wasn 't until 2001, when An Na published her award-winning novel A Step from Hea ven, that I really saw myself and my family in youth literature - and this, regardless of the fact that I wasn't 3 when we immigrated; that my dad nev er got a DUI or cheated on my mom; that my brother is older than me and not younger. I don't need 100% conformity to see myself in literature, but I n eed some, and I need some that I've never had. For someone who *never* saw a Korean American girl in children's literature, the fact that Young Ju is a Korean American girl meant a great deal to me. The impact is immeasurable .&nbs p;
The relative absence of nonwhite faces in children's and young adult l iterature renders us less visible. It means that readers who aren't familia r with our experiences as nonwhite members of a majority white society may be less able to understand and empathize with us. I just attended a Booklis t webinar sharing new YA books for spring. Of the many books promoted, I be lieve only one had an obvious nonwhite person on the cover: Gabby Douglas. So I don't understand Charles' comment regarding the "limitless supply" of new books. Nor do I understand what he means when he says that "the reading public is already open and accustomed to non-conforming, mu lticultural, diverse reading" when we see things like the racist tweets com ing from readers after The Hunger Games movie posters were released. *These * readers don't seem open to diverse reading. In fact, they seem to be acti vely resisting it. ( htt he-movie-made ). And finally, ask author Zetta Elliott about t he "low barriers to writing and publishing."( h ttp://zettaell iott.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/hot-mess/ )
If you want a statistical, numbers-orien ted research study commenting on the effects of how images im pact real people, I recommend:
Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Oyserman, D., & Stone, J. M. (2008). Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian P rincesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots. &nb sp;Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 30 , 208-218.
sermanstone2008.pdf
To understand why it's imp ortant to INCR EASE the stories that are told about nonwhite people, I recommend:
Adichie,
Chimamanda. (2009 October 7). The Danger of a Single S tory.
Ted Talks . elvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch? http://www.youtube.com/watch?vЩIhs241z eg
Respectfully, visibly yours, Sarah
-- Sarah Park Dahlen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of LIS St. Catherine University spark_at_stkate.edu http://sarahpark.com 651.690.8791
Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:22:49 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;ba ckground-color: #ffffff;color: black;}
Your Storie s
This discussion has been very valuable to me. Thank you to Sarah Park Dahlen and Uma Krishnaswami for sharing their childhood reading experiences and their insights regarding the multicultural literature, and for Chimamanda Adichie’s T he Danger of a Single Story . You have enriched me.
Self-report data is powerful. Even one personal story is po werful for me. With enough stories, we do have numbers, if numbers are need ed. I now realize that I have never asked my friends and colleagues of colo r, or those of cultural backgrounds different from mine, “What was your reading experience as a child? What were your favorite books?” I never thought to ask these questions, but I will now.
Thank you also to Charles Bayless for causing me to gi ve more thought to these issues, and for provoking further dialogue.
Articles
The article that Sarah referenced about reaction to the Hunger Games movie shocked me. I wondered how many people had this type of reaction, how they came to think and feel this way, and whether they live in a certain part of the United St ates, or are “in a neighborhood near me.”
The article referenced another article, “I See Whit e People: Hunger Games and a B rief History of Cultural Whitewashing.” This article discusses the idea that some white readers “default to white,” meaning th ey assume that the characters in a story they are reading are white, someti mes even when another color is explicitly named (
istory-of-cultural-whitewashing ).
I found that the study about mascots (and posters) sh owed that mascots could lower self-esteem, but only speculated about what c ould raise it. I found a couple of articles that cite studies showing that:
both reading achievement and r eading motivation are affected by the availability of literature that offer s children “personal stories, a view of their cultural surroundings , and insight on themselves” (Heflin and Barksdale-Ladd 2001, 810). For children of color this means multicultural literature. With repeated e xposure to engaging literature in which children of color find characters a nd a context that they can recognize and to which they can relate, reading is more likely be an appealing and successful activity (Bell and Clark 1998 ; Gangi 2008; Heflin and Barksdale-Ladd 2001).
The articles reference related studi es as well. The article from which I excerpted, and a related article, are:
“Using a Critical Race Theory Framework to Ex amine Transitional Books” (
http://www.ala.org/aasl/aasl )
“Supporting the Literacy Needs of African Ame rican Transitional Readers”
( http://www.t rican-transitional-readers/ )
Cultural Ba ckground of Americans
These articles and our discussion made me wonder about the ancestry of current Americans. I am listing below the sources I found. I re alize that each of these “populations” comprise many differ ent and distinct cultures, and that it is important to also learn about cul tures possibly not reflected in any American’s ancestry. The questi ons I have now are (1) what reading materials are needed for our diverse cu ltures, and (2) how do we provide what is needed?
http://en.wikiped
with a discussion of this map here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik
and an update for the 2010 census in a March 2012 art icle in Adweek here:
http://www.adweek.com/s
and information on the rapid growth of the Hispanic a nd Asian populations:
http://www.census.gov/n
“Lo w Barriers to Writing and Publishing”
The “hot mess” article tells a story I also hear from white authors. I would think that the barriers and number of rej ections might be even higher for multicultural books, given the relatively small numbers that are published. I recently read a blog by a dedicate d agent who believed in a manuscript so much that she finally sold it after 127 rejections! One online site I’ve seen is particularly entertai ning, because it provides some of the rejection comments now-well-known boo ks received. For example, Irving Stone’s book about Vincent Van Gog h, Lust for Life , was rejected 16 times. One editor commented that the book was, “a long, dull no vel about an artist.” It eventually sold 25 million copies, accordi ng to the site.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2
Given this situation, has anyone considered an online or eB ook universe parallel to traditional publications, where more multicultural stories can be shared in a format for the young people who hunger for them ?
Colleen Kelley
-----Original Message----- From: Sarah
Park Dahlen Sent: Feb 28, 2013 2:37 PM To: ccbc- net_at_lists.wisc.edu Subject: Re:
Reading Diversity Analysis
While I do believe that numbers matter (after all, the CCBC keeps tabs on insider/outsider authorship and publications by and about non-white authors - thank you!), I strongly agree with Colleen Kelle y that personal experiences can provide powerful data. Colleen, thank you f or your thoughtful email. You asked for personal experiences; here it is. T he absence or marginalization of Korean Americans in children's literature propelled me into a career studying children's literature, and a career mak ing sure that future children's librarians are aware of issues of race and diversity in children's literature.
The only 2 books I remember from my childhood depicting Asian American s were 1) The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
and 2) Baby-Sitters Club
. My experiences as a Korean Americ an, while they could resonate somewhat with those two characters, don't do so completely. As Colleen said, color (and I'll add race, ethnicity, ethnon ational affiliation, etc.) is one of the most obvious and common ways we id entify ourselves. Despite some commonalities, Korean, Chinese and Japanese people tend to be very clear that we are not the same people group. It wasn 't until 2001, when An Na published her award-winning novel A Step from Hea ven, that I really saw myself and my family in youth literature - and this, regardless of the fact that I wasn't 3 when we immigrated; that my dad nev er got a DUI or cheated on my mom; that my brother is older than me and not younger. I don't need 100% conformity to see myself in literature, but I n eed some, and I need some that I've never had. For someone who *never* saw a Korean American girl in children's literature, the fact that Young Ju is a Korean American girl meant a great deal to me. The impact is immeasurable .&nbs p;
The relative absence of nonwhite faces in children's and young adult l iterature renders us less visible. It means that readers who aren't familia r with our experiences as nonwhite members of a majority white society may be less able to understand and empathize with us. I just attended a Booklis t webinar sharing new YA books for spring. Of the many books promoted, I be lieve only one had an obvious nonwhite person on the cover: Gabby Douglas. So I don't understand Charles' comment regarding the "limitless supply" of new books. Nor do I understand what he means when he says that "the reading public is already open and accustomed to non-conforming, mu lticultural, diverse reading" when we see things like the racist tweets com ing from readers after The Hunger Games movie posters were released. *These * readers don't seem open to diverse reading. In fact, they seem to be acti vely resisting it. ( htt he-movie-made ). And finally, ask author Zetta Elliott about t he "low barriers to writing and publishing."( h ttp://zettaell iott.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/hot-mess/ )
If you want a statistical, numbers-orien ted research study commenting on the effects of how images im pact real people, I recommend:
Fryberg, S. A., Markus, H. R., Oyserman, D., & Stone, J. M. (2008). Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian P rincesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots. &nb sp;Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 30 , 208-218.
sermanstone2008.pdf
To understand why it's imp ortant to INCR EASE the stories that are told about nonwhite people, I recommend:
Adichie,
Chimamanda. (2009 October 7). The Danger of a Single S tory.
Ted Talks . elvetica,sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch? http://www.youtube.com/watch?vЩIhs241z eg
Respectfully, visibly yours, Sarah
-- Sarah Park Dahlen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of LIS St. Catherine University spark_at_stkate.edu http://sarahpark.com 651.690.8791
---Received on Mon 04 Mar 2013 09:22:49 AM CST
