5:42 AM
Vance Holmes
"America is woven of many strands.
I would recognize them and let it so remain.
Our fate is to become one, and yet many.
This is not prophecy, but description."
-- Ralph Ellison
I would recognize them and let it so remain.
Our fate is to become one, and yet many.
This is not prophecy, but description."
-- Ralph Ellison
I.
Multicultural awards are vital because we must be direct and explicit in recognizing, rewarding and encouraging voices of the historically marginalized ethnic and cultural groups within society. That is not a mandate for political correctness -- it is a survival tactic.
There is an anti-intellectual streak running through America as deep and wide as the Mississippi. As a nation, we don't trust book learnin'. We never have. I call it page discrimination. The attitude is summed up in a sentence: "They can put anything in a book -- doesn't make it true."
There is even more distrust and disdain for books within America's ethnic and cultural groups. Fewer and fewer people are reading books, or even know how to. The trend is unmistakable. The book is an endagered species.
II.
We must have literary awards, prizes and incentives aimed at increasing the number of multicultural books, because we are an increasingly multicultural society. Young adult literature should reflect the diversity of young adults. Currently, it reflects the stubbornly mono-cultural climates of education, publishing, and literary criticism. While things have improved, we are nowhere near statistical parity.
III.
Multicultural awards are absolutely necessary because -- beyond quantity, we must have quality. We require a concrete definition of excellence in the multicultural category. We have focused far too long on material that is ugly and offensive. It's high time we start paying attention to what is positive, healing, human.
IV.
Finally, we have to celebrate diverse authors, the same as Hollywood and the NFL build buzz around their star attractions. A multicultural award is a way to shine a spotlight on non-mainstream writers who have turned their problems into prose. The power of a good role model to a young person of color -- a gay, lesbian or questioning teen -- a poor, disenfranchised youth -- simply cannot be overestimated.
Go Figure
Statistics can be very misleading, but when viewed in context, they provide a helpful snapshot.
The Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) is keeping an account of our culture gap. Of the approximately 400,000 books published each year in the US, the CCBC estimates there are only about 4,000 books specifically directed at children and young adults. That doesn’t mean they read them! If a teenager is reading a book at all, it’s more than likely not one designated as YAL. Nonetheless the number is a useful, concrete reference point of availability.
How many of the 4,000 YA books published, present a significantly diverse perspective?
The U.S. student body is about 17 percent African American. However, in 2008, the CCBC reported that "among the 3,000 or so titles they received -- only six percent had significant African or African American content. While 20 percent of the country’s students are Latino, only about two percent of all books reviewed by CCBC had significant Latino content.”
While people of color can complain that not enough multicultural books are published – publishers can complain that people of color aren’t buying enough books. But even accounting for that conundrum, the disproportionality is shocking, particularly considering that not every book is a good book.
In 2010 the CCBC estimated that approximately 3,400 YAL works were published. Bearing in mind that over 45 percent of the student population are minority students, last year’s assessment found:
How many of the 4,000 YA books published, present a significantly diverse perspective?
The U.S. student body is about 17 percent African American. However, in 2008, the CCBC reported that "among the 3,000 or so titles they received -- only six percent had significant African or African American content. While 20 percent of the country’s students are Latino, only about two percent of all books reviewed by CCBC had significant Latino content.”
While people of color can complain that not enough multicultural books are published – publishers can complain that people of color aren’t buying enough books. But even accounting for that conundrum, the disproportionality is shocking, particularly considering that not every book is a good book.
In 2010 the CCBC estimated that approximately 3,400 YAL works were published. Bearing in mind that over 45 percent of the student population are minority students, last year’s assessment found:
- 156 books had significant African or African American content
- 102 books were by Black authors and/or illustrators
- 22 books featured American Indian themes, topics, or characters
- 9 were created by American Indian authors and/or illustrators
- 64 had significant Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American content
- 60 books were created by authors and/or illustrators of Asian/Pacific heritage
- 66 books had significant Latino content
- 55 books were created by Latino authors and/or illustrators
Posted in: REFLECTIONS
