I was reading a blog post on Color Online, which lead me to an interesting SLJ article, Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books by Mitali Perkins.
I found it to be a fascinating read. As the demographics of the United States continue to change, it’s more important than ever to create more diversity in children’s literature.
What is the importance of describing a character’s race? If you don’t describe them at all in your novel, is the default white?
In the Make Lemonade Trilogy, Virginia Euwer Wolff doesn’t describe her characters at all. I’ve always wondered since the characters are struggling financially, living in the projects, and going to sub-standard schools—how do young readers portray the character’s race? Is it based on their own race?
When I read this trilogy, I pictured them as African-American because that is what I am. But I wonder if I would have pictured them this way if they had been portrayed as living in luxury and going to private school?
It gives me a LOT to think about.
Mitali Perkins asks five provocative questions in the article to help teachers and students discern messages about race in novels.
Are the nonwhite characters too good to be true?
Are the nonwhite characters absolutely perfect? Do they not have any flaws? Do they drop profound knowledge to help the protagonist?
How and why does the author define race?
Does the author used the cliched descriptions such as “cafe au lait” skin? What about other features such as eyes or hair?
Is the cover art true to the story?
Does the cover art realistically portray the characters? Or do they use racial stereotypes for easy identification?
Who are the change agents?
Does the story use nonwhite characters to bring about change in the novel or is the change brought about by a white character?
How is beauty defined?
Are non-white features considered beautiful? How do the characters portray beauty? Do they embrace their own ethnic features?
She also addresses the question some may ask: Why can’t a young reader just enjoy a novel without exploring messages about race?
Our calling as educators and authors is to pay attention, both to the young people we serve and to the books they’re reading, and to ask questions with them. Great stories, like their human counterparts, are beautiful yet flawed, and discussing them in community can strengthen their power to enlighten, inspire, and let justice roll down.
You should definitely go over and read the article. For more discussion, be sure to visit Worducopia, who is having a roll call about the SLJ article.
Very thought-provoking post. I nearly always assume characters are white (probably because I am) unless something in the context tells me otherwise. That’s probably why, as a writer, I’m still not quite sure what to make of Mitali Perkins’ article (as a reader and a homeschool teacher, I totally get it).
I’m going to get ahold of a copy of Make Lemonade and see what impression I get. Looks like Virginia Euwer Wolff is a local author for me, too, so I want to be reading her, anyway!
Mitali’s article brings up a lot of valid points. And the one thing she discussed that I’m guilty of is the food-based descriptors when talking skin color etc… Something I’m still trying to work around.
However, this issue is much like the chicken or the egg syndrome. The system is broken when it comes to treating books with characters of color fairly – so you end up with a myriad of issues because of it. Issues that can be addressed, certainly, but cannot necessarily be “fixed” until the system is fixed from the top down.
I know, I personally describe race because the system is automatically set to showcase most protags as white and I’m trying to signal that my story is more inclusive. The only way I can do that is to make sure the reader understands the characters are multi-cultural and mutli-racial, in some cases.
Great Post. You know it’s funny you mention the Make Lemonade trilogy. I remember reading those back in the day and I thought they were black too. I didn’t really notice there were no physical descriptions. Interesting. Was it their circumstances that led me to believe that? My own world view? Was it the author photo? (I just looked… she looks white, not gonna assume anything.) I don’t know.
@Ali: I think most people probably identify characters who are not described as themselves. It’s what I do anyway.
@Paula: I also am guilty of this as well. It just sounds so much better than “brown.” I don’t know if this is necessarily a bad thing if it’s not overdone.
@Summer: I read a recent interview with the author and she basically said that she wanted the reader to envision the characters as they saw fit. What would be more interesting is to see how SHE saw the characters when she created them.