Beyond Multiculturalism: Elevating Anti-Racism within the Teaching of Children’s Literature
by Dr. Tami Lincoln
“One of my favorite books from elementary school is ‘Abuela’ by Arthur Dorros. It’s a magical book about a girl and her grandma that fly over New York City. It’s full of adventure and interactions with the locals. I think it helped me identify myself when I first arrived in the United States and was learning English as a child. Growing up my parents always worked long hours so I practically lived with my grandma and we’d do everything together. The book also has a lot of cultural context that I identified with and bright vivid colors” –student in Children’s Literature course
One of the first questions I ask of my students in my Children’s Literature course is to reflect on their own experiences with books growing up. My students are training to become teachers, and within their training, it is critical that they not only gain the pedagogical skills they will need to be successful teachers of reading but also reflect on how their own childhood experiences helped shape the attitudes they have towards literature. A common thread within the course discussion related to teachers, as children lacked a connection to books due to characters or plots to which they could not relate. This lack of connection is understandable because English Learners - or those from different ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds — do not have the same connection to these books because, in the past, most children’s books reflected the white, middle-class mindset, with stories and characters that appealed to children from this racial identity group. The books that were available or taught in the classroom didn’t reflect the experiences of diverse student populations. Within the past 30 years, however, that has changed.
Today, it is much more common to have characters, plots, themes, and settings that reflect diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. According to the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), “Children’s books are one of the most effective and practical tools for initiating these critical conversations; and they can also be used to model what it means to resist and dismantle oppression.” There are two compelling reasons for the inclusion of multicultural children’s literature within K-12 classrooms. The first centers on the ideas that children learn about themselves when they are represented in literature. Students’ cultural, linguistic, and familial backgrounds are legitimized when characters in books have similar traditions, beliefs, and “look” like them. According to Rx for Reading: Detroit, this representation enfranchises students, and makes them feel they are an important part of the classroom. The second reason for the inclusion of multicultural children’s literature is that it allows children to learn about people who are different from them while learning to empathize in the process. These ideas are reflected in Rudine Sims Bishop’s concept of “mirrors” and “windows”. Mirrors allow children to see themselves represented by similar characters in literature and explore their beliefs, situations, and personhood through those characters. Windows encourage children to look outside their own selves and explore and learn from experiences that are different from their own.
That said, simply having access to books that represent diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds is insufficient. According to Temple, Martinez & Yokota, “If books do not portray differences, students cannot learn to transcend them.” Teachers must be intentional about bringing those books into the classroom and their instruction. While exposing children to multicultural literature is important, teachers have a responsibility to move beyond simple representation and use those books to deepen learning and teach anti-racism in their classrooms. The genre of “multicultural children’s literature” is fairly broad and in terms of teaching, occurs on a spectrum. In the past, a children’s literature book was considered multicultural if it reflected characters, plots, or themes that were not reflective of the white majority experience. An example of such a children’s book is the character of Peter, a boy who experiences snow for the first time in “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats. While Peter is Black, there is nothing more in the story that is representative of his ethnicity, religion, linguistic or cultural background. The story depicts a child of color, but the reader doesn’t learn about the character (or him or herself) by reading the book; in essence, the character is flat and static, and his race is irrelevant to the story. While this book was a breakthrough in the time period in which it was published for featuring a Black protagonist, as educators, it is important to recognize that simple representation of a BIPOC in a children’s book, does not meet the criteria for true multicultural or anti-racist children’s literature.
Furthermore, the spectrum is books where characters and plots are deeper and more nuanced, where teachers can use the characters and plots to extend learning beyond multiculturalism, and into anti-racism. “Smoky Night” by Eve Bunting, with illustrations by David Diaz, tells the story of a child, Daniel, in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots. Daniel and his mom live in an apartment next door to Mrs. Kim, a neighbor that they do not like due to racial and ethnic differences. When the building catches on fire, both Mrs. Kim’s cat and Daniel’s cat go missing. In the midst of the chaos outside and fires inside, Daniel and the neighbor find their cats together. The cats befriending each other lay the groundwork for Daniel befriending Mrs. Kim, and from this experience, a softening occurs within the previously contemptuous relationship. While the story is technically focused on the cats finding solace in each other and becoming friends, the felines are symbolic of the reconciliation that takes place between Daniel and Mrs. Kim.
The depth of “Smoky Night” allows for more exploration of themes and connections to real life. Not only do the main characters in “Smoky Night” represent different ethnicities and cultures, but these also feature heavily in character development. Further, readers begin to see some of the prejudices the characters have against each other diminish as they share a common sorrow — a missing cat. That story builds a bridge between the characters, as well as a bridge to the reader. Teachers have much more to work with, given the themes of prejudice, stereotypes, and historical unrest present in the text. In short: multiculturalism asks students to think about the books, while anti-racism asks students to take action (or plan for action) because of the books.
Elevating discussions from simple multiculturalism to anti-racism is essential to teaching children’s literature. While representation and multiculturalism within children’s books are important, it doesn’t take advantage of the opportunities within the literature to touch on issues important to students — issues like social justice, deepened understanding of the complexities of culture and honoring student identities by reading books that connect with them more deeply. Addressing multicultural books by discussing the deeper themes, plots, and characterization within the texts, as well as how students can respond to these, not only honors the purposes of the books but also empowers students to take action. Reading about characters, plots, and themes while internalizing the deeper themes as a call to action, is an incredibly powerful way to approach literature, especially when that call to action promotes social justice activism.
Just as my class begins with students discussing how their early experiences with multicultural children’s literature affected their attitudes towards books, it is just as critical for students to reflect on how they plan to address these issues within themselves and their future classrooms. The course ends with a period of critical reflection, where students can discuss not only what they learned, but how the lessons will impact the future teaching profession. The purpose of the course, after all, isn’t just to expose students to children’s literature: it is to grow their understanding of literature and their place in the world and apply this new understanding to cultivate a modern, culturally-relevant teaching practice that can benefit all children.
Tami Lincoln earned her BA in psychology from Azusa Pacific University, a Single Subject Teaching Credential in english and an MA in curriculum and instruction from Azusa Pacific University, and her EdD in organizational leadership from the University of LaVerne. She has been at Brandman University for the past four years, where she is an assistant professor of Liberal Studies, working with students to prepare them for a career in the classroom. She served a two-year term as the President of the Brandman chapter of the American Association of University Women, and as Director of a TEDx event, due to be presented in May 2021.
