{"id":11405,"date":"2024-03-07T17:39:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=11405"},"modified":"2024-03-07T17:39:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:39:28","slug":"why-we-need-diverse-books-in-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/why-we-need-diverse-books-in-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Need Diverse Books in Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black<\/strong><\/em>
\nGuest Column<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ever since he was young, March\u00e1nt Davis has always loved children\u2019s media and the power it possesses. Though his favorites were \u201cSesame Street\u201d and \u201cReading Rainbow\u201d \u2014 especially seeing himself represented on screen through LeVar Burton \u2014 he says he was \u201cstrangely\u201d inspired by \u201cSnow White.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always playing on TV,\u201d says\u00a0Davis<\/a>, an actor, director, writer, and now author of A Boy and His Mirror<\/em><\/a>. And it was this story that he wanted to repurpose for his own children\u2019s book geared toward the current generation.<\/p>\n

Thinking about the relationship kids have with their phones and what identity means, Davis wanted to create a story that spoke to people coming up in a world with Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.<\/p>\n

But, mostly, Davis wrote the book hoping young Black boys would read it. Though he doesn\u2019t believe any one thing will cure problems, he wants the book to be a step toward boys acknowledging their feelings and countering some of the toxic masculinity in the Black community.<\/p>\n

Bottom of Form<\/p>\n

Davis called back to what Sheryl Lee Ralph\u00a0said in her acceptance speech<\/a>\u00a0at the Critics Choice Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look in the mirror, you gotta love what you see,\u201d Davis quoted. \u201cAnd so I wrote a book in an effort to help kids look in the mirror and love what they see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he hopes the book empowers young Black boys, they aren\u2019t the sole audience Davis has in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a book for anybody who feels \u2018other\u2019 by the way they look, or anybody who has self-doubt,\u201d Davis says. \u201cIt\u2019s a book that I want kids to read and feel empowered, feel like they have agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is that, around the country, books like Davis\u2019 are being removed from the shelves of classrooms and school libraries. Books that feature Black protagonists or talk about Black history.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

\u2018I Grew Up Thinking We Wanted to Learn History So We Wouldn\u2019t Repeat it\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between books being banned, challenged, and removed from school shelves \u2014 and the College Board\u00a0giving in to bullying<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0altering<\/a>\u00a0its AP African American Studies course \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of talk about what should be taught in classrooms, how it should be done, and who should have a say.<\/p>\n

We shouldn\u2019t be hiding history from students because they need to learn the truth, says Kathy Lester, a middle school librarian and president of the\u00a0American Association of School Librarians<\/a>. Plus, when students find books they\u2019re interested in, they read more, and it creates conversation and opens up topics for discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always grew up thinking that we wanted to learn our history so we wouldn\u2019t repeat it,\u201d Lester says. \u201cWe can learn from it and grow from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t understand our current politics and culture without understanding the treatment of African Americans in the United States, as well as the integral role they\u2019ve played in shaping the country, says Caroline Richmond, the executive director of the nonprofit\u00a0We Need Diverse Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order for us to be the nation that we claim to be \u2014 a land where all people are created and treated as equals \u2014 we have to teach our children how this has not been and still is not the case today,\u201d Richmond says. \u201cAnd so, if we\u2019re not teaching Black history in our schools, then our students \u2014 of all races and backgrounds \u2014 are not receiving a holistic education.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its \u201cBanned in the USA<\/a>\u201d report, PEN America collected book bans in states around the country between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. The analysis found that bans occurred in 138 school districts across 32 states, and these districts represent 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly four million students.<\/p>\n

While the majority of states with reported bans saw less than 50, some states racked up over 100, with Texas topping the list at 801 bans.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just about history books. For Black and Brown kids, it\u2019s about seeing yourself represented in history, in a book, but also in the daily experiences that children face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our kids \u2014 and we want every kid \u2014 to be able to see the experiences of Black children in the books that they read because it makes every person more relatable,\u201d says Derrick Ramsey, co-founder of the nonprofit\u00a0Young, Black & Lit<\/a>. \u201cIf you can see that person, a Black student, doing a science project through a book, then that\u2019s exciting to any student who wants to get into science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis says there\u2019s more power in variety than singularity because there is so much more to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very dangerous act to not allow children and people the experience of reading a variety of different texts because that\u2019s what informs us about the world. That\u2019s what helps us build our ideas and thoughts around what we believe,\u201d Davis says. \u201cIf we are showing kids a singular thing, then I think we\u2019re alienating them and we\u2019re manipulating them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Message a Book Ban Sends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Banning these books\u00a0sends a message<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 both to Black students and their non-Black peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sends a message to Black students that their history doesn\u2019t matter, that it\u2019s not important,\u201d Lester says. \u201cThen, for white students, that it\u2019s not important for them to learn about it or that their history is more important \u2014 which are not good messages to be sent.\u201d<\/p>\n

And their non-Black peers are also harmed because they end up learning a lopsided view of history that ignores huge swaths of the American narrative, Richmond says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey won\u2019t have the opportunity to really grapple with our shared past,\u201d Richmond says, \u201cto read primary sources, to ask probing questions, and to engage in thoughtful discussion and build empathy. Acknowledging past harm and our current inequitable society is the first step in creating real, long-term, sustainable change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the banned books studied by PEN America, they were most likely to have LGBTQ+ content (41%) or characters of color (40%). Among the top reasons for book bans were titles having to do with race or racism (21%), and titles with themes of rights or activism (10%).<\/p>\n

When thinking about these book bans, Davis thinks there are some important questions to ask those doing the banning: What do you want? What do you want Black children to feel by removing those books? What does removing them actually do?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just like, \u2018Why?\u2019\u201d Davis says. \u201cWhat\u2019s your intention? What are you saying to the kids about that book, specifically?\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ramsey, the message is clear: \u201cYour history doesn\u2019t matter. Your experiences don\u2019t matter. Who you are doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d It\u2019s a challenging space for a child who is already trying to find their path in the country and in the world.<\/p>\n

Plus, it\u2019s not just talking about Black history or Asian history, Ramsey says, it\u2019s American history.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation should be the space where you can learn about everything and anything that you want. There should be no limits to the creativity of the ideas and the dreams that you inspire into every child,\u201d Ramsey says. \u201cThis really takes away a lot of that opportunity to see what you could be, even if you hadn\u2019t thought about it before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black Guest Column Ever since he was young, March\u00e1nt Davis has always loved children\u2019s media and the power it possesses. Though his favorites were \u201cSesame Street\u201d and \u201cReading Rainbow\u201d \u2014 especially seeing himself represented on screen through LeVar Burton \u2014 he says he was \u201cstrangely\u201d inspired by \u201cSnow White.\u201d \u201cIt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,7],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[219],"class_list":["post-11405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-opinion","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11406,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11405\/revisions\/11406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11405"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=11405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}