Hi all! This is one I’ve been noodling for a while. I’ve gone back and forth on how to put it together and even if I should, as my voice is not the one I feel needs to be elevated in this platform.
Contrarily, I’ve only got this one voice, and silence on the issue, however small my platform may be, does not sit well with me. Also, I do not think it’s fair to shift the entirety of the burden of conversation to those around me, thereby acting as if I have no responsibility or power to help fix this problem.
It’s a fine line to walk, I’m fully aware, and I’m sure my opening isn’t getting it right in the way I want it to, but there you go.
Today, I want to zoom in on a rather small- but impactful- symptom of a larger problem, one that’s bugged me for a good long while now and one that is, comparatively, really easy to fix.
I want to talk about adding BIPOC voices to our classroom libraries.
Lot of preamble for something relatively simple, right? But I want to take this time to dive into why I believe this small change has the potential to make a big difference, as well as how, in my limited experience as an ELA teacher, I think this could best be implemented.
First and foremost, I have to give a shout out to my out-of-school book club, which, for the past few months, has worked to explore literature and informational texts written by BIPOC authors. Without the introspection and conversations from this group, I’m not sure I would have been able to articulate the case I’m about to make. I also wanted to mention the most compelling point I’ve learned from this book club thus far: there is always something more to learn about the complex issues surrounding race, I will always be a work in progress of my understanding of it, and I’m going to screw it all up at some point.
And, when that happens, I’m going to learn from my error and endeavor not to repeat it.
So, without further ado, here’s my case.
I want more BIPOC voices added to our classroom libraries, mainly for the purposes of independent reading.
Allow me to clarify: I love the idea of teaching a core novel written by a BIPOC author featuring BIPOC characters. Many schools do this for at least one of the core novels presented to their students throughout the year.
My issue, however, is twofold. Firstly, many of these core novels are presented under the broader heading of civil rights, at least here in the US. While there is nothing wrong with this- and, indeed, it is an essential part of our history to teach- it seems that, somewhat often, this representation, steeped as civil rights education, is the only- or one of a few similar types- representation that BIPOC individuals are given.
Jerry Craft, author of New Kid, captures the issue with more clarity and precision than I can. At one point in his book, Jordan, the main character (a new African American student at a primarily white school), goes to the school’s book fair. There, he and another BIPOC character, Drew, are bombarded with various literature that “might interest them.” Craft then takes a moment to highlight that all of the novels being pushed on the boys begin with “Escape From” (slavery, poverty, prison, etc.). He also takes a moment to compare these types of stories to the kinds being presented to the white students (i.e. A Magical Journey of Friendship). Jordan doesn’t miss the disparity between these two types of literature. And, yes, while Jordan could choose to purchase the “magical adventure” book, the cover makes it seem unlikely that he would find any representation (characters that look like him) in any of the main characters.
Which is a problem.
I’m going to repeat this over and over in this post, because it is my main point and I want to make sure it sticks. I believe that one way to combat this problem is to simply add more BIPOC voices into the mix. I am not coming for anyone’s civil rights unit, nor am I suggesting we ignore a very real and painful part of our history.
I’m just saying, oftentimes, it’s not enough.
No culture is a monolith. There isn’t a set number of books from any culture, gender, age, sexual identity, or any other part of a person’s identity that counts as “enough representation.” Because everyone’s voice is uniquely their own. There is no “elected person” who speaks for an entire race. So giving just one perspective isn’t enough.
Now onto the second reason that I would like to- specifically- see more BIPOC voices added to our libraries, where students can peruse and select them at their leisure. I would also love to see core novels with BIPOC characters in situations like “the magical adventure” etc. being taught. But again, the word of the day is “more.”
In regard to independent reading, I think there’s a real benefit to students engaging with BIPOC voices in an organic way, solo and not under explicit teacher instruction. There is real power in student engagement, and not being told to read a book can make all the difference for some students. It also provides the very necessary information that there are more than one or two (or three or twenty or fifty) “types” of BIPOC characters. There are as many unique BIPOC characters- characters period- as there are ideas in the universe.
Think of it this way: if the only time a student reads a story about a BIPOC character is when it is explicitly taught in class, they may come to think BIPOC characters are only utilized in this instructional capacity. That removes the chance for them to engage with these characters in lower stakes situations, to make their own connections apart from what is presented in class.
So, again, the push I’ve arrived at is for more. If there are more books featuring BIPOC voices in our libraries, more children will choose them to read. We still need the instructional approach; I’m not advocating that we get rid of that. I just think this approach combined with deliberate instruction is needed.
My last point ties into my “more” philosophy in a slightly different way, and honestly can be applied to all literature in general. While I appreciate the classics as much as any other English major, I’m of a mind that, especially in regards to children, modern literature should be featured whenever possible.
My general reasoning for this is that reading a book outside of the general time it was written (not counting current books deliberately written about the past) forms a barrier to entry for some students. Slang, writing style, hobbies, problems, what’s explained and what’s assumed on the part of the reader, all of it and more is framed by the time period in which the story was written. For instance, a book centering around a child who is experiencing bullying may look very different if it was written in the 1970s compared to now.
I’m not saying these books don’t have their place or aren’t important to include in libraries. I just think, with some exceptions, most students who are in the middle grades or younger gravitate towards books that are generally set in approximately the same time as they are.
Now, in regard to books featuring BIPOC characters, there is another layer that I feel needs unpacking. I hope I didn’t come off as bashing stories by BIPOC authors that feature civil rights in some way earlier; I truly think these stories are incredibly valuable, I just don’t think they should be the only story that gets to be told by and about people of color.
Keeping that in mind, I think adding more recent and modern stories about various BIPOC experiences, explicitly featuring civil rights or not, is a necessary step. I have seen it happen before where the focus of civil rights is placed squarely on the shoulders of the 1900s and before to handle. “Before the 2000s, things were messed up, but they’re okay now,” can be a common and damaging sentiment.
Kids are young. The 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s (and before) might as well be prehistoric times to them. And by framing civil rights issues (experienced by a variety of distinct cultural groups over the course of these decades), intentionally or not, as a concern of the past, students are being unfairly primed to feel as though these problems have already been “solved.” Civil rights activism from the 1900s also looks a lot different than it does today. The issues being fought for, while sometimes stemming from a similar source, have also evolved. I feel we owe it to our students to present an accurate picture of the world they are living in.
Also, to clarify, I have not listed- nor could I try to list- anywhere near a comprehensive account of all the concerns BIPOC populations have at this point in time. Again, I find this tricky because, I’m really not trying to speak for anyone beyond myself and my own experiences are limited. My central thesis is to keep expanding, keep learning, and never worry about “too much” representation from different marginalized groups. I realize that it’s risky whenever one term gets tossed around to apply to a large, diversion population as if it fits uniformly across the board. For the purposes of this blog post, I am attempting to use this term to convey a sense of broad inclusivity. I’m not sure how successful I am with that intent, but the bottom line is that we should actively be seeking to include as many stories from as many perspectives as possible.
So there we go. That’s my small opinion on this zoomed in issue.
Comments