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Akimi Gibson, Early Childhood Specialist
Consultant to Bank Street College of Education
Introduction
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Between 1980 and 1990, the racial diversity of the United States became more pronounced as a result of the more rapid growth among most racial groups. The rate of increase during the decade for each of the following groups -Blacks (13 percent); American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts (38 percent); and Asian and Pacific Islanders (108 percent) -exceeded the rate of increase for Whites (6 percent)... Every year from now to 2050, the race/ethnic group adding the largest number of people to the population would be the Hispanic -origin population.
-Day, J.C. (1996). Population projections of the United States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin: 1995 to 2050 (Current Population Report, p25-1130). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
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Creating Multicultural Communities
A quality learning environment recognizes that children bring more than their developmental abilities to each learning situation. It respects that children hold a wealth of skills and understandings gained by participating as members of their communities. Each community represents each child's culture. Culture can be thought of as the traditions, beliefs, values, attitudes, and ideas that make up the life of the community–past and present. Children with high self-esteem have adults in their lives who are concerned with and attentive to their cultural needs.
A multicultural community creates a warm and inclusive environment where children and adults from different language groups, lifestyles, religious, and racial and ethnic backgrounds work together. It is an atmosphere where cultural diversity becomes the foundation for learning and growing. Multicultural literature provides children with a mirror as well as a window–a mirror that reflects and validates their own ../images and a window that provides a view into the lives of the greater community.
When referring to a person from a particular group, it is important to use the term that is accepted by the child's parents and community. Additionally, it is best to be as specific as possible when appropriate. For example, Asian American may be an acceptable term for a broad discussion of the culture, but Korean American may be the more accurate and acceptable term.
Understanding Multicultural Literature
Like all good literature, multicultural literature cuts across genres, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Nonfiction books include biographies, informational and photo essays. Fiction selections include realistic and fantasy tales as well as folk tales. When making a selection, it is important to ask two key questions: Is it a good story? Is it worth sharing with a child?
There are several categories of multicultural books:
 | World literature encompasses literature set outside the United States. This category includes folk and fairy tales, books that have been translated, and stories about children visiting relatives in other places. |
| Culturally specific literature consists of stories that come from various cultural groups themselves. These books are those in which people tell their own stories and are written by a member of the specified culture. These books typically include nonfiction and historical and realistic fiction. |
| Culturally inclusive books deal with multiple cultures. They are stories about appreciating and often celebrating the similarities and differences between us all. Themes for young children include looking at various communities, food, and kinds of families. These books are often multi-lingual as well. |
| Visually integrated books are not necessarily about coming to understand a person's culture, but visually show people of color, women, and those from different lifestyles as a natural part of the story. |
10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism
 | Check the illustration:
Look for stereotypes.
A stereotype is an over generalization and simplification about a particular group, race, or gender which usually carries derogatory implications. Some stereotypes are seemingly flattering but are indeed harmful for they typify an entire group and don't respect individual differences.
Look for tokenism.
Do the illustrations of the characters of color look like those from the dominant culture except for being tinted or colored in? Do all of their faces look stereotypically alike?
Who's doing what?
Do the illustrations depict people of color and women in subservient and passive roles or in leadership and action roles? Are the male characters the active "doers" and the females the inactive "observers?" |
| Check the storyline:
Standards for success.
To gain acceptance and approval, do the characters of color have to exhibit extraordinary qualities. In friendships between cultures, is the character of color more forgiving and understanding?
Resolution of problems.
How are the problems presented, conceived, and resolved in the story? Who causes most of the problems? Who solves the problems?
Role of women.
Are the achievement of girls and women based on their own initiatives and intelligence, or are they due to their looks or to their relationships with males? Could the same story be told if the gender roles were reversed? |
| Look at lifestyles:
Are cultures and lifestyle including socio-economic status shown accurately and respectfully? Are negative judgments about lifestyles implied? |
| Weigh the relationship between people:
Which cultural group possesses power, takes leadership, and makes important decisions? How are family relationships depicted? |
| Note the heroes:
Are both men and woman shown as heroes? Whose interests is a particular hero serving? The interest of the heroes own cultural group? Or the interests of the dominant culture? |
| Consider the effects on the child's self-esteem:
Are norms established which limit any child's aspirations and self-concepts? Does the story reinforce or counteract positive associations with the color or the word white and negative associations with the color or the word black? What happens to a girl's self-image when she reads that boys perform all of the brave and important deeds. |
| Consider the author's and illustrator's background:
Review the biographical material on the jacket flap or the back of the book. If a story deals with a cultural theme, what qualifies the author or illustrator to deal with the subject? |
| Check out the author's perspective:
No author can be entirely objective. All authors write from a cultural as well as from a personal context. Review the book to determine whether the direction of the author's perspective substantially weakens the value of his/her written work. |
| Watch for loaded words:
A word is loaded when it has offensive overtones, such as "crafty" and "docile." Look for sexist language and adjectives that exclude or in any way demean girls and women. Look for the use of the male pronoun (he) to refer to both males and females. Corrected phrases include humankind/mankind; firefighter/fireman; ancestors/forefathers; chairperson/chairman; manufactured/manmade. |
| Look at the copyright:
Copyright dates can be a clue as to how likely the book is to be overtly racist or sexist (although a recent copyright date is no guarantee of a book's relevance or sensitivity). It usually takes about two years from the time an idea for a story is conceived and submitted to the publisher to the time it is actually published and put on the market. This time lag meant little in the past, but in an era of rapid change and changing consciousness when children's book publishing is attempting to be relevant, it is becoming increasing significant. |
*Adapted from Guidelines for Selecting Bias-Free Textbooks and Storybooks, Council on Interracial Books for Children, 1980.
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