Planning a past weekend’s activity, my beau
and I were considering attending a talk by Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of The New York Times bestseller “How to Raise
and Adult.” Acquainted with the book, I was interested. My mate
however, a longtime friend of the author’s family, had sentimental motives to
attend the event hosted at his alma mater, the Rockland Country Day School, a
private prep school in Congers, New York. Ms. Lythcott-Haims’ mother was my
beau’s former headmistress.
“Oh yeah, OK,” I said, at the suggestion
of attending the event. “I’d love to ask her a couple of questions related to
my books.” To this, he replied off-handedly, “She’s writing serious books.” His
knee-jerk remark, while not intentionally hurtful, bespoke a familiar
misconception about the genre.
I am the author of a series of self-published children’s books, called the Cocoa Kids Collection: Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain©; Eddie and the Hot Cocoa Hot Rod©; and (coming in 2016) Lorena and the Magic Mocha Mirror©. The three titles feature multi-racial characters whose learning adventures teach and entertain. They are brightly colored and chocolate-dusted narratives, meant to encourage reading and to uplift the self-esteem of commercial publishing’s most underrepresented audience, children of color.
I am the author of a series of self-published children’s books, called the Cocoa Kids Collection: Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain©; Eddie and the Hot Cocoa Hot Rod©; and (coming in 2016) Lorena and the Magic Mocha Mirror©. The three titles feature multi-racial characters whose learning adventures teach and entertain. They are brightly colored and chocolate-dusted narratives, meant to encourage reading and to uplift the self-esteem of commercial publishing’s most underrepresented audience, children of color.
Why Children's Books Matter.
In remarks to another audience, I had
presented the merits of the genre and broader thesis of my books. Then as now,
I contextualized my work with the need for ethnocentric content and aligned my
efforts with those of #BlackLivesMatter, the social media-based campaign
that seeks heightened awareness and civic action in response to police actions
that increasingly have resulted in the tragic loss of black lives.
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| Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain© |
History Is Today.
To understand the underpinnings of the story and the big picture intent of the Cocoa Kids Collection©, it is helpful to look back to the landmark article by Rudine Sims Bishop, “Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Doors.” Published some 25 years ago, in the Ohio State University publication, Perspectives, this scholarly work examines the critical role books play in our society’s cultural, media and emotional development.
Sims Bishop wrote: “Literature transforms human experience
and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and
experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading books, then,
becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in
books.”
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| Eddie and the Hot Cocoa Hot Rod© |
Sims Bishop’s work sought to update an
earlier look at the same phenomenon which was first called to the country's
attention in Nancy Larrick's landmark work, "The All-White
World of Children's Books." As published in the 1965 in The Saturday Review, Larrick writes:
"Across
the country, 6,340,000 non-white children are learning to read and to
understand the American way of life in books which either omit them entirely or
scarcely mention them. There is no need to elaborate on the damage--much of it
irreparable--to the Negro child's personality.
"But the impact on all-white books
upon 39,600,00 white children is probably even worse...There seems little
chance of developing the humility so urgently needed for world cooperation,
instead of world conflict, as long as our children are brought up on gentle
doses of racism through their books."
Sadly,
as will be quantified later in this piece, little has changed since Larrick
first called this issue to America's attention. More than a question of
content, these sins of omission have exceeded critical mass to deadly
effect.
Childhood Denied.
The issue is real, as Alexandros
Orphanides articulated in his June 15, 2015, article for The Huff Post’s Black Voices, “The
Dehumanization of Black Children: Tamir Rice, Kalief Browder and Dajerria
Becton.” In his time traveling essay, Orphanides explores recent and
historic accounts in which children of color have been denied the protections
of childhood to fatal consequence. He deftly recounts the plights of three
recent victims: Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old boy who was shot dead while playing
with a toy gun by police who responded to a call in Cleveland public park;
Kalief Browder, 22, who committed suicide following his release following three
years of false imprisonment at Riker’s Island, at age 16, for allegedly
stealing a backpack; and Dajerria Becton, 15, the girl who was filmed being
violently thrown down and pinned to the ground clad only in her bikini by
police responding to calls of raucous kids at a birthday swim party.
There is ever-growing frequency in
reported “isolated incidents” where black children are dehumanized, and worse,
killed, in situations and circumstance that defy conventional notions of
childhood. Orphanides’ writes:
“These seemingly unrelated stories are
inextricably linked through the span of American history in the ways in which
the bodies of Black children have been exploited, dehumanized and policed
through the centuries. This manifests in a justice system, which is supposed to
protect the rights and vulnerabilities of children, that is 18 times more
likely to sentence a Black child as an adult. It also manifests in a public
that accepts institutionalized racism in our formal institutions and reinforces
it through the litany of inequalities inherent American society.”
Exploring
several historic, highly publicized instances of violence against black
children in our country’s history, Orphanides posits that attitudes and
practices that seek to undermine the humanity of black children are no mere
coincidence:
“Throughout the slave period, Black
children were regularly separated from their parents and sold to other
plantations -- both their childhood and humanity were denied in the face of a
racial capitalism that valued only their value as a commodity and source of labor.”
This
dark history didn’t end with slavery. Through the Antebellum period and
beyond, blacks’ humanity was denied,
education subverted and literacy was a punishable crime in which lynch mobs
were judge and jury for these and lessor offenses. Childhood offered no refuge
or defense for any sort of perceived criminality as evidenced in the plight of
Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy who was savagely killed in 1955 Mississippi
for reportedly whistling at a white woman. Till, a middle-school-aged child, was
robbed his humanity, judged and mercilessly slaughtered by a gang of white
adults: childhood denied.
Such atrocities continue today.
Twelve-year-old, Tamir Rice’s plight is a powerful reminder that change is
still needed. The incident is also a strong indictment of the public’s
fragmented response, broken along lines of race, in calling for radical and
sweeping change in the formal institutions which look past the litany of civic
and social inequalities inherent in American society.
Consider The Numbers.
The media are active agents of the
“formal institutions,” Orphanides condemns. Media of all types, developed for
all ages, audiences and segments are mirrors, as Sims Bishop discusses, that
reflect our citizens and society. Fact and fictional books, news, social media
and films, all project and reflect the narratives of our culture’s beliefs and
values, our strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. In each of these
channels, minority narratives and perspectives are woefully and statistically
lacking.
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www.leeandlowe.com
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The data for children’s literature are just as stark. Lee & Low reports that from 1994 to 2014 the volume of multicultural content in children’s publishing has hovered at around 10%, despite the fact that the same wedge of the nation’s population has increased to 37%
The absence and marginalization of
diversity voices and narratives has far reaching implications. In children’s
books and beyond, this content, by virtue of its omission, is a socializing
dynamic that perpetuates the suppression of diversity narratives, and the
dehumanization of black children and kids of color.
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www.leeandlowe.com
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And while improvements are slowly being
made, the need remains. In a 2014 report, The Cooperative
Children’s Book Center (CCBC), reported that despite record amounts
of media coverage citing the dire need for diversity books, the industry
segment registered a meager 14% increase, (up 4% from the prior year) from
3,000 to 3,500 books in the diversity category for the year. However slight,
the increase marked a definite improvement. And yet gaps remain.
Whose Story Is It, Anyway?
Books for this swath of readers not only feature the least multicultural content, but also the fewest number of multicultural authors. This means that the few writers who are writing stories about children of color aren’t themselves of the culture about which the write, according to Lee & Low statistics. In 2015 Lee & Lowe Books, revisited the diversity gap, as quantified by CCBC’s findings:
“They categorized books as 'about,' 'by
and about,' or 'by but not about' people of color. Based on those numbers, we
can also calculate the number of books that are 'about but not by.' In every
category except Latino, more books are being published about characters from a
particular culture by someone who is not from that culture than by someone who
is. This disparity is most dramatic when it comes to books with African/African
American content, of which only 39% were by African Americans.”
Looking
specifically at children’s literature, it is significant to note that content
about black children is largely absent in this category of media that is
characterized for its ability to help children imagine themselves and their
worlds. In instances where stories about black and minority children are being
told, the stories, according to these figures, are in large part narratives
created by authors outside of the culture.
As a result, there is an unspoken message
and overt practice that devalues authentic black narratives. For black children
in particular, the industry practices policies that suggest that their stories
are not of value, or are not worthy of attention, save discussion of
inequality, disparity, crime, law and order. In these narratives, children of
color more often than not star as victims or perpetrators of criminal acts and
crime. Often the purported crime is that of simply being black.
Such narratives send a chilling message
to children and affect damage that reaches beyond the immediate. In the May
1999 article, “Brain
Development Altered by Violence,” a Washington Post piece cited:
"Most child witnesses to violence in
America live in inner cities, where shootings occur repeatedly, and where
parents often are as traumatized by them as children. And counselors rarely
come calling on them in the aftermath of horrors..."
And
the effect of this violence is present even when a child is not a first-hand
witness. Televised acts are just as impactful, according to the report:
“Recent breakthroughs in brain research
have revealed alarming dimensions to the problem. Particularly for young
children, traumatic experiences such as witnessing violence--much less
experiencing it--can alter a developing brain's anatomy and chemistry in ways
that inhibit learning, concentration, attachment, even empathy.”
Children
of all colors, therefore, very seriously need less exposure to violence and
more access and interactions with uplifting content and images that feature
children of all colors. This is truer for inner-city children who more than
others are witness to acts of violence in their communities and with increased
frequency are witness to crimes against their peers in media and in real life.
Veterans Of Childhood
Again, the long-term implications are
stark. In some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder caused by exposure to such
violence can cause lasting damage and predispose children to impulsive violence
later in life, researchers said in The
Washington Post report. Neurobiologist and psychiatrist Bruce
Perry, is quoted in the report:
"If you influence the way the brain functions in ways that become chronic and permanent, that's fixed. Impulsive violence is only a piece of what we're finding. The big picture is the lost potential of kids."
This
new data challenges conventional wisdom that has long held that children's
resilience somehow spared them the long-term harmful effects of trauma:
"More than 5 million children in the
United States witness or experience traumatizing violence every year,"
according to the report, "including a reported 3 million who see or hear
domestic violence, 1 million who are victims of abuse or neglect and others who
are exposed to community violence."
As
a result, Perry, a pioneer in the study of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) in Vietnam veterans, said in the report, that his research has shown
that there are now more incidents of PTSD among "veterans of
childhood," as he calls them, than among Vietnam veterans. Such exposures
to violence demonstrate the other side of the coin “of heartening evidence in
the last few years that the brain is shaped dramatically by stimuli in early
childhood.”
Helicopter Parents Should Care, Too.
In the converse, such findings have been
the proof that has served to motivate and propel conscientious parents “to coo,
cuddle, sing and read to babies as never before in hopes of boosting
intelligence and emotional health.”
These are the same parents who evolve
into helicopter parents, those whom Ms. Lythcott-Haims addresses in her
writing. These parents carefully select reading materials, monitor media
exposures and orchestrate “appropriate” peer interactions to which their
children will be exposed in early childhood on through early adulthood.
These adults, too, are those who might
consider incorporation diversity books in their children’s libraries and
learning repertoire, in order to offer access to media that depicts diversity
in ways that challenge the status quo. My books seek to do just that: to offer a
remedy for children of color who are systematically excluded and dehumanized
through the marginalization and omission of their images and narratives from
books.
Stories about and featuring characters of
color offer methods to mend identity diffusion – in which individuals have not
yet made personal choices to solidify their identity. They do so through
presenting representations, images and narratives that heal, and help children
to imagine themselves and their lives in ways not readily available or even possible
in their everyday lives. My books offer an alternative to media, including the
news, entertainment programs and recurrent narratives that reinforce ruptured
identities.
In picture and chapter books,
particularly books and learning materials targeted for children in middle
childhood when children are learning to make their own choices and beginning to
imagine themselves and their feelings in the context of social groups, it is
important that children see stories and images of people of color.
For many individuals the larger
challenges of fractured or non-existing self-esteem begin in early and middle
childhood, the ages targeted by my series of books. This is yet another reason
why multicultural characters in multicultural narratives matter.
While publishers have relied on anthropomorphizing characters to meet diversity quotas, this approach doesn't go far enough and has inherent challenges. Colorful creatures are no replacement for humanity. That’s because such characters and characterizations inevitably reinforce a social and racial hierarchy and the dehumanization of peoples and children of color.
While publishers have relied on anthropomorphizing characters to meet diversity quotas, this approach doesn't go far enough and has inherent challenges. Colorful creatures are no replacement for humanity. That’s because such characters and characterizations inevitably reinforce a social and racial hierarchy and the dehumanization of peoples and children of color.
Anthropomorphizing Isn't The Answer.
As much as this approach serves as a covert means to perpetuate cultural norms, the prevalence of stories about human-like animals undermine the value of authentic narratives about people of color and support consideration of black and brown people as being animalistic, and by extension undeserving of the consideration, benefits, and civil rights extended to those who are granted full person-hood.
Anthromorphizing fuels the fire. Ethnic-acting and sounding animals and non-human, fantasy characters at once
dehumanize minority peoples and their narratives while perpetuating the
marginalization and socializing effort that supports the racist discourse and
practice. Historic and current comparisons of blacks to non-humans offer a
clear example, most commonly with negative associations.
Blacks portrayed as apes, uncultured and
uncivilized jungle animals and worse is a long established paradigm that
perpetuates notions of blacks as animalistic characters whose savage and
barbaric actions are the natural response of primitive beings. Consequently,
swift and often deadly responses and reactions to such actions by non-blacks
are perceived as justified.
By letting animals represent people of
color, characters are denied the power and sovereignty of their humanity, while
yet and still being held responsible for their actions and others’ reactions.
In his article for PsychCentral.com, “Why Do We
Anthropomorphize?” by Rick Nauret,
Ph.D. supports this notion, writing, “Anthropomorphized entities
become responsible for their own actions — that is, they become deserving of
punishment and reward.” Conversely, Nauret writes:
“Anthropomorphism in reverse is known as
dehumanization — when humans are represented as nonhuman objects or animals. ‘These
examples also suggest that those engaging in dehumanization are usually part of
a cohesive group acting against outsiders — that is, individuals who feel
socially connected may have an increased tendency toward dehumanization. Social
connection may have benefits for a person’s own health and well-being but may
have unfortunate consequences for intergroup relations by enabling
dehumanization.’”
Nauret
concludes, few of us “have difficulty identifying other humans in a biological
sense, but it is much more complicated to identify them in a psychological
sense.”
Identifying or empathizing with others’
experience is part of understanding the human experience, as noted previously
in the Rudine article. Anthropomorphism in books undermines one of books’ and
reading’s biggest benefit, and fortifies the walls of otherness that distance
people of diverse races and cultures. Left unchecked, racist attitudes
conceived in childhood can fester, grow and manifest in adulthood.
A 2014 study, published in The Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, called “The Essence
of Innocence: Consequences of Dehumanizing Black Children,”
researchers sought to determine whether black boys are given the protections of
childhood equally to their peers. The study found:
“...converging evidence that Black boys
are seen as older and less innocent and that they prompt a less essential
conception of childhood than do their White same-age peers. Further, our
findings demonstrate that the Black/ape association predicted actual racial
disparities in police violence toward children.”
The
consequences are clear. Tamir Rice was shot dead for doing what children are
encouraged to do. He was at a park, playing. However, for responding police
officers, a 12-year-old with a gun presented in their minds a significant
threat, or they felt emboldened and empowered enough to shoot to kill.
Such attitudes must be checked. Only
through increased exposure and opportunities to empathize with and to humanize
others can change be achieved. Books provide such opportunities and can serve
as cultural and racial portals. For black children, others’ ability to
empathize, and extend the same protections afforded to other youth are
increasingly slipping away. As more and more news footage emerges of
black children and teens being shot down and brutalized in the cities and towns
of our country, efforts must be redoubled at the earliest levels to mitigate the
psychological and neurological damage, and to present alternative views which
bolster the sense of humanity and challenge perceptions which fuel racist
ideology. In books, on the news and in playgrounds,
more must be done. Opportunities to learn, to imagine and to empathize through
reading and play in childhood have clear reverberations. Increasingly, it’s a
matter of life and death, and it doesn’t get more serious than that.
©2015 - Valerie Williams-Sanchez, Valorena Online,
L.L.C.
Also available for download at www.academia.edu
Also available for download at www.academia.edu