There has been a lot of tweets lately about #OwnVoices and who is writing diversity in children’s books after a controversial TedTalk by Nora Raleigh Baskin. I found this article by The Good Men Project that puts everything into perspective.
In this post:
- I will lay out why racism is the foundation for #OwnVoices controversy about who has the right to write about POC/marginalized groups
- Let’s examine the state of #OwnVoices in children’s book publishing using Lee and Low’s research
- Let’s watch Nora Raleigh Baskin’s video
- Debbie Reese reacts to Nora Raleigh Baskin’s video
- Laurie Halse Anderson defends Debbie Reese
- David Bowles responds to the numbers of Latinx children’s and YA books published
Let’s get started talking about race and racism in children’s book publishing.
Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism
The Good Men Project’s article is White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism. Dr. Robin DiAngelo explains why white people implode when talking about race:
“While individual whites may be against racism, they still benefit from the distribution of resources controlled by their group. Yes, an individual person of color can sit at the tables of power, but the overwhelming majority of decision-makers will be white. Yes, white people can have problems and face barriers, but systematic racism won’t be one of them.
This systemic and institutional control allows those of us who are white in North America to live in a social environment that protects and insulates us from race-based stress. We have organized society to reproduce and reinforce our racial interests and perspectives. Further, we are centered in all matters deemed normal, universal, benign, neutral and good. Thus, we move through a wholly racialized world with an unracialized identity (e.g. white people can represent all of humanity, people of color can only represent their racial selves).
Whites are taught to see themselves as individuals, rather than as part of a racial group. Individualism enables us to deny that racism is structured into the fabric of society. This erases our history and hides the way in which wealth has accumulated over generations and benefits us, as a group, today. It also allows us to distance ourselves from the history and actions of our group. Thus we get very irate when we are “accused” of racism, because as individuals, we are “different” from other white people and expect to be seen as such; we find intolerable any suggestion that our behavior or perspectives are typical of our group as a whole.
Challenges to this identity become highly stressful and even intolerable. The following are examples of the kinds of challenges that trigger racial stress for white people:
- Suggesting that a white person’s viewpoint comes from a racialized frame of reference (challenge to objectivity);
- People of color talking directly about their own racial perspectives (challenge to white taboos on talking openly about race);
- People of color choosing not to protect the racial feelings of white people in regards to race (challenge to white racial expectations and need/entitlement to racial comfort);
- People of color not being willing to tell their stories or answer questions about their racial experiences (challenge to the expectation that people of color will serve us);
- A fellow white not providing agreement with one’s racial perspective (challenge to white solidarity);
- Receiving feedback that one’s behavior had a racist impact (challenge to white racial innocence);
- Suggesting that group membership is significant (challenge to individualism);
- An acknowledgment that access is unequal between racial groups (challenge to meritocracy);
- Being presented with a person of color in a position of leadership (challenge to white authority);
- Being presented with information about other racial groups through, for example, movies in which people of color drive the action but are not in stereotypical roles, or multicultural education (challenge to white centrality).
Not often encountering these challenges, we withdraw, defend, cry, argue, minimize, ignore, and in other ways push back to regain our racial position and equilibrium.” Read the entire article here.
7% of Children’s Books Published in 2017 Are #OwnVoices
“Even as the number of diverse books increases substantially, the number of books written by people of color still has not kept pace. Not much has changed since last year when Black, Latinx, and Native authors combined wrote just 6% of new children’s books published. This year [2017] the number is only 7%.“The Diversity Gap from Lee and Low Blog
“Like last year and many of the years before, the majority of books (diverse or not) are still written by white authors. We wrote about this phenomenon back in 2015, and the numbers haven’t changed much since then.
There still seems to be a particular resistance to allowing African American creators to tell their own stories. It could also be the lack of opportunities and/or access given to African American authors as KT Horning noted last year. According to detailed CCBC statistics, only 29% of books about African/African American people were by Black authors/illustrators. Also, only 34% of books about Latinx folks were written/illustrated by Latinx people whereas last year the percentage was 61%.
Other #ownvoices books by other cultural groups aren’t much better; 39% of books about Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific Americans were created by Asian Pacific creators; 53% of books with Native content/characters were written/illustrated by Native creators.”
Nora Raleigh Baskin Thinks White People Should be allowed to Write Diversity Stories and Get Them Published
Nora Raleigh Baskin’s TedTalk: Artists Mustn’t Fear the Social Media Call-Out Culture
“If this [#OwnVoices] comes at the expense of my work being published, then that’s how it needs to be.”
–> Only 7% of Children’s Books Published in 2017 Are #OwnVoices.
“… saddened by the message that there is a limited number of spaces at the table, and the only way for one story to be told is for another to be silent.”
–> Only 29% of books about African/African American people were by Black authors/illustrators which means 71% of Africa/African American stories were told by white people. Also, only 34% of books about Latinx folks were written/illustrated by Latinx people whereas last year the percentage was 61%. Again 66% of the stories about Latinx people were told by white people.
White people are telling diversity stories and getting them published. This comes at the expense of #OwnVoices.
A Schneider Award Does Not Mean You Get It Right
Note that Rules by Cynthia Lord won a Newbery Honor and the Schneider Award, yet this book is not aging well. Disabilities in KidLit has issues with this book:
“This is a book written by an author who has an autistic child, but is not autistic herself, and admits that the inspiration for writing the book was her non-autistic daughter.”
“Catherine’s role in Jason’s independence made me slightly uneasy, especially as she remained uncomfortable around him throughout. Although not intentionally, Catherine comes across almost as Jason’s “savior.” Prior to Catherine, Jason had no interest in independent mobility, and didn’t have the same vocabulary available to him. Because of this, Jason’s purpose is more to develop Catherine’s character than to be his own independent self.
The other part that made Rules so difficult to read as an autistic wheelchair user was watching Jason become more independent, more developed as his own character, seeing him humanized, and watching how none of that happened to David. It made me think of how many times my other friends in chairs have said awful things about autistic people.
I can understand why this book is so popular, as it fits into a lot of the stereotypes of autistics, and it goes along with the common practice of shifting focus away from actual autistic people to those around us.
But this book hurt to read. I worked really hard to get through it because I wanted to be able to say something about it, but in the end I just wanted to cry really hard for all the Davids out there. And the Jasons.”
Debbie Reese Responds to Nora Raleigh Baskin’s TedTalk
Debbie Reese wrote about Nora Raleigh Baskin’s TedTalk and called out Nora’s book, Summer Before Boys. Here’s what Debbie took issue with in Summer Before Boys:
“Early in the novel there is a reference to reading the Little House books, and then at several points as friends Julia and Eliza pretend to be characters from the past, they imagine sneaking through the mountains to avoid being captured or scalped by “Indians.” Sorry, I didn’t keep track of page numbers. It’s stunning to me that an author of this caliber and her editor/publisher, etc think this is appropriate in 2011.
Some will argue that Baskin is giving readers an accurate portrayal of her characters. Some might say that they see themselves in Baskin’s twelve-year-old protagonists, Julia and Eliza. Are you someone who, at age 12, pretended you were Laura, afraid of being scalped?”
Here’s an excerpt from Debbie’s post:
“You White Writers seem to think you and your work are at risk, and so, you do these Ted talks, and laments on social media, and articles, etc…. And your buddies and like-minded folks gather round and talk about how brave you are.
Frankly, I’m embarrassed for you. And frustrated, too. Your cycles of this… bullshit are why we keep having these problems of misrepresentation! Instead of telling each other ‘DON’T SCREW THIS UP’ you tell each other “you meant well” and so… there we go again.
The never-ending cycle of misrepresentation and the harm it does to children AND to other writers is on YOU, Nora Raleigh Baskin, and YOU, Deborah Wiles, and YOU, Kathryn Lasky and… I could name a few more, but the point is…
Rather than doing TED talks about how art and expression, own the fact that you can do BOTH. You can do art, and express yourself, and do it well! Do right by ALL your readers. Do right for ALL children.
And as for calling us vitriolic or fervent —- Have you no grasp of history? What would you have said to women who burned their bras?! Who raised their voices? Who put pen to paper to fight for their rights? To vote?! Really, Nora, would you scold them, too?
By the way, I see you over on Facebook, talking about how you are taking a “beating” on Twitter. People are holding you accountable for your Ted talk. Should they not?”
The online conversations about Baskin’s talk are an illustrative example of how White people in children’s publishing define social media culture, and its norms, in ways that both uphold our own dominance, and enact active racist aggression against BIPOC people in the field.
Reading While White: PART II: False Victimization and White Aggression: David Lubar’s Public Facebook Discussion Following Baskin’s 2018 TEDxTalk
Laurie Halse Anderson Defends Debbie Reese
Important and valuable. #Kidlit has historically done a terrible job providing books that accurately & respectfully show the lives of kids from marginalized groups. Our industry is waking up to that fact thanks to people who are brave enough to speak about this reality.
Some folks have gotten their feelings hurt when confronted by examples of their inaccurate/disrespectful representation of marginalized kids in books they wrote. Know what really hurts? Being a kid & seeing your life misrepresented in stories. That’s harmful & dangerous & crappy.
If I see more any more tone policing of the people critiquing representation, I’m gonna start throwing things. Bad representation HURTS CHILDREN. That’s worth being blunt about, imho.
Marginalized people have been asking for accurate & respectful representation in #kidlit for more than half a century. Before social media, cis-hetero-able-bodied white people like me had the luxury of not hearing those calls for justice.
Are you writing for all readers or just for those whose lives mirror yours? That’s a painful question for many. Pain signals where you need to pay attention. #kidlit
If you are writing for all readers -and you care about them cuz they’re children & need all kinds of great stories – wouldn’t you seek out opinions from experts? Wouldn’t you welcome their perspective & the fact that they have way more expertise?
Ugly truth: some #kidlit writers heard “diversity” is the hot trend & they wrote a “diverse” book because they thought it would get published. They wrote w $$$ in their eyes, not the faces of children. When called on poor representation, they plead their good intentions.
Good intentions are not enough.
L Halse AndersonVerified account @halseanderson
Asking nicely didn’t make any changes in the Civil Rights movement. Being polite didn’t desegregate schools. Tip-toeing didn’t force voting rights for all.
The ability to get want you want by asking politely is a goddam privilege. Recognize that and own it.
I feel the same way about the amazing people of We Need Diverse Books. They are making significant, much-needed changes in #kidlit. They are heroes. @diversebooks #wndb
TL;DR Accurate, respectful representation is as important to your writing as character, plot, or setting. If you care about kids, listen, learn, and become a better writer. #kidlit
David Bowles Responds with A Closer Look at 2017 Latinx #OwnVoices Books
Here’s the link to the study David Bowles refers to in his first tweet.
Recently @debreese shared the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s “A Closer Look at 2017 Latinx #OwnVoices Books.” I want to talk about these findings a bit, so strap in. Ya saben. Be forewarned of potential bilingual cursing arising from raza indignation. 1/
A FINAL REMINDER. 3700 kids lit books published in 2017. 215 had Latinx content. That’s only 6%. But in reality, only 73 were #ownvoices – 2% – TWO PERCENT OF ALL BOOKS WRITTEN FOR KIDS LAST YEAR WERE FROM LATINX CREATORS. This is a tragedy of epic goddamn proportions. 14/14
Conclusion
I have a post comparing two Asian American authors who both wrote books with a half-Filipino character: #OwnVoices Half Filipino Faceoff. My take is that #OwnVoices represents a lifetime of small moments that research and vetting cannot come close to. Even if a book that is not #OwnVoices gets published without controversy, it doesn’t mean that it ages well. See Rules by Cynthia Lord above.
I also observe that it is a White perspective of not wanting to be left out of anything, in fact, a loud clamoring demanding to be included. An example is using the term “nigger.” See Bill Maher on that.
Nora Raleigh Baskin’s TedTalk is another flavor of this sense of entitlement. It’s not enough that only 7% of all children’s books are #OwnVoices. Why can’t she get in the action? Preferably with impunity. That her book will prevent an #OwnVoices book from being published is sad to her, but if it works in her favor, she’s all for it. It’s out of her hands anyway. She puts the responsibility on other people and factors. Structural racism is not her concern. Does anyone have the statistic for the ethnicity breakdown of gatekeepers: agents, editors, librarians, teachers, book buyers at bookstores? There may not be a stat handy to quote, but we all know the answer. It’s overwhelmingly White. Is this an example of structural racism?
Now the real work begins. Let’s discuss.
p.s. Nora Raleigh Baskin is no longer on Twitter: @noraraleighB. And that brings us back to the top of this post, The Good Men Project: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism.
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Thank you for this post. It was educational. You have given me a lot to think about especially the statement “Whites are taught to see themselves as individuals, rather than as part of a racial group. ”
I am in agreement that the gatekeeper community needs to reflect the reader, author, illustrator community too. I look forward to that day and the wonderful books that will be published. Happy reading.
Thank you for reading and caring Lisa!
Mia, what does victory here look like?
I ask this seriously. Will #ownvoices victory be declared when the top twenty domestic American children’s publishers are publishing books in direct match to any group’s proportion in the American population? When authors of children’s books published in any given year are 13% African-American, 18% Latino, 5% Asian, 2% Jewish, 1.5% Native nations or Native heritage, 61% White, et cetera depending on the year?
That doesn’t sound like victory. It sounds like a de facto quota nightmare.
Hi Anonymous,
I think I would rather see the children’s book industry gatekeepers reflective of the American population and then the books that are published will shake themselves out. Right now, my guess is that the gatekeepers are 95% white.
This is a straw man argument. It’s not surprising to know that some people view diversity at the creator level in terms of victory and defeat; I suspect that’s one of the many psychological dynamics that contribute to the stranglehold white authors and staffers have on the industry. The goal is not victory, but inclusion. Not victory, but equity. Not victory, but an honest representation of reality.
I second what Mike said. This is not about being victorious over some imagined foe. And therein lies the problem with your argument. By talking about victory, you place people advocating for own voices in an enemy camp. And separate from your point, Anonymous, it’s curious that people who want to write about different cultures won’t listen to people who are actually from those cultures, which says something about what’s missing in those non-ownvoices narratives.
Hi Tracey,
You bring up a great point about people who want to write about different cultures and the vetting that they are doing and willing to receive. I think their perspective is that they do research to write the book but if it’s not enough, if they get it wrong, then they get a pass based on “good intentions.” They don’t want a public drubbing about getting it wrong because they didn’t get that sensitivity reader, or their sensitivity reader approved their manuscript.
Some of what Nora Raleigh Baskin said also smacks of insecurity, of not feeling like she’s a “writer.” It’s easy to understand where writers face piles of rejection and now feel like that the bar will be higher if #OwnVoices get a real place at the table.
It’s the same thing for Affirmative Action in competitive high schools (see NYC’s magnet schools) and colleges. Asian Americans seemingly are getting “capped” to allow for more POC to get spots but the percentage of white students stays the same. What is behind that white number, though, is that the number of Jewish students is making up a very high percentage of the White count. Jewish students faced the same diversity barrier themselves long before POC tried to get into Ivy League colleges. When they were able to be counted as White and not be identified by their religion, the percentages then fell into their favor.
The imagined foe is really should be truth. #OwnVoices represents truth from a POC/marginalized point of view. What I find so shocking is that white authors don’t seem to want to write from their truth. What is wrong with their own experiences as the basis for their writing? What makes them want to tell Native American stories when they are not Native American? Or Latinx stories when they are not Latinx? etc? I just don’t get that unless it’s all about a money grab. I mean, were they clamoring to tell these same stories 10 years ago? Did they submit over and over again their POC manuscripts?
And I don’t even think it’s about being published. I don’t think these authors with many books published like Nora Raleigh Baskins are so worried about getting their books published truly. I honestly think it’s envy that Angie Thomas THE HATE U GIVE has a movie deal. And Jacqueline Woodson won the Astrid Lundgren Award. And Gene Luen Yang won a MacArthur genius grant. It’s like they are saying, “Why can’t I write a book about a black kid who is killed by a cop with a Latinx and Asian sidekick, set on a reservation that will be on the NYTimes best seller list for a year, get a movie deal, and make me millions?” That’s really what I want.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for weighing in. You make a great point. I think their point of view is the numbers game of how many children’s and ya books get published each year. It’s the same argument for Affirmative Action at colleges that if someone of color gets in, they are taking away a spot from a white kid. This is actually not true but it’s a common belief. But I guess the issue is that if, say, 3400 children’s and ya books are published every year and 7% are POC/Marginalized #OwnVoices and that goes up, which books are now being rejected?
Anonymous: this isn’t about “victory.” This is about creating better books. And I’ll paraphrase Ruth Bader Ginsburg when asked what number of Supreme Court justices could be women to satisfy her: 9.
When we have no problem with books being created by all white people, as has been historically the case, then there is room for every book to be written by POC and other marginalized voices.
No one is actually seeking a quota, and that you fear it suggests entitlement.
White people like me: you have all the freedom in the world to create. Your work will be scrutinized. Stop using artistic freedom as a cover to perpetuate and enable racism and other abuses of power. If you don’t understand this yet, stop, learn, and listen. You will be a better writer for it.
The fact that is from “Anonymous” who doesn’t want to engage with an identity is also telling. POC/marginalized people — we have to engage AS OURSELVES. We take “take a beating” for standing up. We have to represent our own opinion and also a race or even an entire continent. Do you, “Anonymous,” get how that is different?
What is “victory?” How about I don’t have to speak for 32+ Asian ethnicities on behalf of Asian Americans? That would be a victory for me, being allowed to express my opinion that solely represents myself, just like you “Anonymous.”
I think Debbie Reese said it best that we are sick and tired having to explain OVER AND OVER again what is offensive. I am sick of tired of being told that my perspective on racism as an Asian American is something that “I should get over.” That the racism I faced is “comedy,” “humor,” “a joke.” That I should not be offended. I just really love that when white people tell me that I should not be offended by Asian American racism. Like they are the ones to define that is racist TO ME.
To white people out there: you don’t actually understand racism. You have never experienced it. You have never felt it. You are not qualified to tell POC/marginalized what is racist and offensive. Please stop thinking that you are. Therein lies the problem.
As a white woman married to an Afro-Caribbean man (two kids, and living in a pretty Balkanized, backwards part of the US) I’ve seen racism, and all kinds of other crazy bigotries I thought were antiquated, up close and personal.
I’d detail out a few incidents, but I’ve been accused too many times by white family and “friends” from my native Northeast, of making stuff up. Nobody could POSSIBLY be that terrible.
Doing so creates a butterfly effect of tremendous and far-reaching harm.
What’s sad is that I’ve moved to a point where the racist nonsense no longer shocks me, just saddens and angers me.
Hi KidlitUnderground,
I’m so sorry that no one believes you. I believe you. I don’t know why white people in the Northeast think that they can define racism for POC. I have encountered that in my own liberal Massachusetts town as well. It does seem to be a Northeast conceit. I’ve never encountered that living in Southern California.
Well said, Mike! I haven’t yet had a chance to look at Nora’s talk, but I subscribe to AICL blog, so I had read Debbie Reese’s take on it.
I agree–better books that are more representative for all kids. Books create empathy, and are important bridges between races and cultures and the best way that we can try to understand each other. And this is about leveling the playing field, creating opportunities and recognizing our own privilege as white writers as well as the overwhelmingly white publishing field.
Thank you for being an ally Maria!
Mia, I appreciate your answer greatly. When there is clarity, at least we all have common material about which to talk. Thank you for your clarity.
As for the figurative phraseology of “defining victory,” it has been a standard part of the lexicon for a long time. It denotes an understanding how success can be assessed. For example, the phrase is used here by the Center for Constitutional Rights, (Google that organization and “How We Define Victory” ) as well as by PBS in a story about the Pittsburgh Courier’s, “Double V” campaign for victory over racism as well as the Axis, also search-able.
Equity in publishing and gatekeeping can be prettied up any way one wants, but the bottom line is that if IN-equity is defined numerically, as in the infographic above, then equity will be assessed numerically. Otherwise, why have the infographic? Pragmatic Mom is admirably forthright in her wish that gatekeepers’ composition look like the American demographic. I would caution that the upshot of that is sustained de facto numerical targets, which is a euphemistic way of saying “quota.”
My own preference on this issue would be for there to be many, many more Lee and Lows and Cinco Puntos, with particular missions, particular markets, and editors chosen to meet those missions and markets. As they grow and gain market share, they will either be acquired by larger publishers and run as independent divisions, or thrive on their own. It happened in hip hop music, and it can happen with books.
I like your goal too and it is starting to happen I feel like with smaller publishing houses and new imprints specializing in OwnVoices of various demographics. But also I would like to say that measurement and quotas are not necessarily the same thing.
Finally, I think my goal, as it has been since starting Multicultural Children’s Book Day, is to educate the readers and those who select books for the children, that #OwnVoices is for everyone. That everyone benefits from reading authentic truths in children’s books. That the main character in the book is not defining the audience that will read that book.
Now, more than ever, we need to amplify the best diversity books out there — front list AND back list — and Own Voices in particular. But if you check the vetted lists that are out there, many topics would have little to no books if diversity books that are not Own Voices are eliminated. There are great diversity books that are not Own Voices, this is true. And it benefits everyone to help vet what books stand the test of time.
Hi Anonymous,
I saw this today: “Penguin Random House UK has a goal that by 2025, its authors and staff will reflect the diversity of UK society.”
I don’t want to be published through an imprint, I want a seat at the real table. Shuffling POC over to imprints instead of the primary publishing house feels a little “back of the bus” to me. I don’t want to enter through the kitchen, I want to walk through the front door like white people do.
Hi Brown Girl Dreaming,
I don’t really understand the publishing business so I assumed that imprints are the same thing. Thanks for clarifying that. Yes, I agree with you! I don’t want to enter through the back door either like this is some kind of Jim Crow segregation.
Brown Girl Dreaming, I’m going to interpret your comment as not wanting to be limited to small, non-Big 5 publishers, but to have equal opportunity to be published by ANY published, and I agree. I fully support the work of smaller publishers like Lee & Low, Cincos Puntos, and many others; their work is invaluable. I publish short fiction with the neurodiversity-focused small publisher Autonomous Press, so I’m actively contributing to that work. But to suggest that authors from non-majority cultures should be content to publish only in those spaces is simply another way of maintaining the status quo.
We already have a de facto numerical quota. In terms of racial identity, the world of children’s publishing has been immovably set at 85-90% white for decades. That quota is in effect right this second.
Hi Mike,
I agree with what you are saying! I think access to Big 5 publishers as well as smaller ones is the goal.
Thank you so much for bringing all this together in one post. I have learned and continue to learn so much from these conversations and articles, and have adjusted my writing choices accordingly. Keeping ALL children at the center of what kid lit writers do should be our top priority. I’m very grateful that you, Deb Reese, and so many others are spending the time and energy to enlighten the rest of us. I’ve had occasion to suggest to some other white women writers that they contemplate this question– how would you have felt if growing up, you’d only had access to books written by men, about YOUR experiences? Or maybe you did have that experience — do you remember what it was like to finally read a book written by a woman, and feel truly represented? Every child MUST have access to that experience–of feeling represented in the books they read–and also of having access to reading authentic voices outside of their own culture/experience.
Thank you so much Margaret! You nailed it: “how would you have felt if growing up, you’d only had access to books written by men, about YOUR experiences?” That’s exactly our POC/marginalized point of view.
Really curious about taking this quote further in this discussion (“… if growing up, you’d only had access to books written by men…”) – should JK Rowling not have written “Harry Potter” from the POV of a boy? Should Ian Falconer not write about girls (“Olivia” series)? We know that society treats boys and girls differently (MeToo plus many other ways). What is the difference between Own Voices as it relates to race/culture vs Own Voices as it relates to cisgender? If the implication is that I should not write stories where the MC is a boy, I’d really have to think about that. Or, are we saying that it is okay for women to write about boys (and maybe misrepresent their experiences) because men already have ample access to the publishing world and their Own Voices are thus amply heard? And is the reverse true? Would love to hear what others think.
Hi Pauline,
I think it’s that extreme to think about that helps illustrate what #OwnVoices is up against. What if men wrote all the female characters out there? Obviously, no one wants that. But what’s the right ratio then? Men should write half of the female characters? 33.3%? 20%? 10%?
How many books need to be published so that all kids see themselves — and in each genre of children’s books? It’s not 7%, I pretty sure about that!
I think when it comes to cisgender, this is not the same equation. Cisgender being binary and of two categories. There isn’t really a “boy” perspective or a “girl” perspective, as in “boys are always like this” and “girls are always like that.” Boys and girls are not two character types. But ethnicity/marginalized groups are many more than 2. So women can write boy/male characters and men can write female/girl characters. And I assume they are referencing off actual people that they know since it’s hard not to know a child or teen or adult of the opposite sex who is cisgender, and they have many, many experiences and small moments to work into their writing. But this is not necessarily the same when a white author writes a POC/marginalized group perspective. Theirs will always be a white perspective trying to understand a POC/marginalized point of view, and speaking for them, but never actually experienced it.
Here’s a link on Implicit Bias: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-black-white-families-implicit-bias-0611-story.html
Commentary: ‘Implicit bias’: The problem and how to interrupt it. Plus, the beads test. by Michelle Sharpe Silverthorn
I wanted to use this article to analyze Nora Raleigh Baskin’s scene in her book THE SUMMER BEFORE BOYS where the girls pretend and act out a scalping scene in which they are captured after their family has been scalped.
First of all, what percent of white people were scalped? Let’s compare it to the number of Native Americans that were killed in what many consider to be genocide: gifted infected blankets with smallpox, food source killed off, forced marches in dire weather conditions, as well as the usual killing by guns and violence.
So why aren’t these girls playing “genocide” instead of “scalping?” They could pretend to gift blankets that have been infected with smallpox knowing that it would wipe out entire villages. They could conduct forced marches where the elderly and children die from the harsh conditions.
The “scalping” narrative is important because it paints the White People as victims and the Native Americans as savage, merciless killers. If White People are victims, then the focus is not on what White People gain from killing the Native Americans. The Native Americans deserve, right? Their land taken away. The treaties broken. Their people wiped out through biological weapons in the form of diseases.
That’s my first point: Implicit Bias to assuage White Guilt and deny genocide.
My second point is what Joseph Bruchac brought up at the last Kweli Conference. He said with some irony and sarcasm though that is my interpretation, “White people love to write about us [Native Americans].” And why is that? Are POC who are not Native American writing about Native Americans? Monica Brown did in one of her Lola Levine early chapter books and it was respectful and accurate and there was no problem with it.
But did you know that the Native American oral tradition means that some stories are only told during certain times of the year? Their stories are not merely for entertainment but also impart their history, their culture, and their religion? Did you realize that these stories are MEANT for Native American audiences only. In the oral tradition, white people or other outsiders are not welcomed or included, and this is for a reason. It’s not for them.
Yet, White People love to write about Native Americans. Why? Why not draw on their own rich history and culture? Write about Holocaust, the tulips bubble, the great plagues, the Renaissance, the Spanish Inquisition … write about immigration on a boat from Europe like Emilie Boon or Camille Andros.
Back in the day where martial arts was practiced only by Asians then subsequently brought to America through Asians who immigrated, it was part of military training, with clans or temples developing their own version that gave them a particular advantage at war. It was not meant to be shared with White People. Bruce Lee was the first to allow White People to learn in America though I’m sure Americans overseas learned in Japan, in China, in Taiwan, etc. And now it’s spread all over the world. What is different is that war and fighting is no longer hand-to-hand combat so giving up this kind of “secret” training is not losing an edge in the event of war.
But martial arts is also not the epitome of our Asian culture and religion, it’s just a small part of it. But there is also lost the spirit behind the martial art. The strict vetting of who can learn and who has the right intensions to be allowed to study with a martial art master. Now, in America, martial art studios are much more about the money. About being a business. The 9/11 terrorists who trained in a martial arts studio in Florida before boarding a plane? I guarantee it that had the martial arts studio been run by an Asian national, their motive for wanting to learn would have been questioned before any money changed hands.
Finally, I leave you with this thread on researching Indigenous people:
Q’s that run through my head when non-Indigenous people/organizations ask me to participate in something, a threaaadddd:
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Who are you? What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
At what stage in the project are you? Have you involved Indigenous people right from the start? Was this project your idea or their idea?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Have you asked Indigenous people what they want? Are you listening to them?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
What bkgd learning have you done? Are you prepared to put work into learning or do you expect you/your team/your institution to be spoonfed?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
How will this project benefit you and your institution now/in the future? How will this benefit others?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
How will this project benefit my community and Indigenous people now/in the future? (not just a product; e.g., also training, experience)
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Will the project and its results be accessible, relevant and meaningful to my community/to Indigenous people? How will it be communicated?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Do you realize Indg peoples are diverse? Am I expected to provide the “Indigenousness”? Are there other Indigenous people involved? How?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Are you paying Indigenous people the same as you are non-Indg? Are you adequately compensating them for their time, knowledge & experience?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Does this seem like a checkbox exercise? e.g., to show that you’re doing “reconciliation.” Does it seem like you’re expecting cookies?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Do you seem prepared to do what Indg people say? (i.e., not thinking “consultation” is enough, then going off & doing whatever you want)
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
What have you done in the past? What has your institution done in the past? What is your institution doing now?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Does it seem like you’re the person designated to deal with Indigenous “stuff,” and the rest of your institution doesn’t care about us?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
What other resources does this project have? Is there evidence that your institution values this project?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Who do I know who’s worked w/ you? What was their experience? What’s expected of me? How much work is expected of me vs. of other people?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
What are your timelines? How flexible are they? How did you come up with them? Do I have the time to meaningfully participate in this?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
What negative consequences might there be for my community/Indigenous peoples/me? How will these be mitigated?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Does it seem like you’re mainly interested in using the reputation and contacts of my organization or myself?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
At what level (hierarchically) are Indigenous people involved in this project/in your organization? Do they have any decision-making power?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
When you’re looking to involve Indigenous people, are you only looking to some types (e.g., university educated, men)?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Are the people who will be most impacted by the project actually involved in the project?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Will I and my community see you again? Do I and my community seem valued, or do I feel like we’re a means to an end?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Do you realize you’re dealing with real people with real lived experiences, or does it seem that this is more of an intellectual exercise?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
Will this project likely go somewhere? e.g., if it’s making recommendations, will they be acted on & that resources will be there for them?
@MelGiskaast
20 Oct 2017
So, if you’re approaching an Indigenous person/org to work on something, you better have thought about this b/c we certainly are. Fin.
—————
@ehhayes
21 Oct 2017
Replying to @MelGiskaast
Do the choices of your organization make it clear that Indigenous people possess intelligence as well as wisdom?
@ehhayes
21 Oct 2017
Replying to @MelGiskaast
Do you meaningfully acknowledge Indigenous intellectual authority in secondary as well as primary sources?
I 99.999% agree, but as a Jew, I’m very tired of white goyim thinking that they have the right to tell Holocaust stories, either. Even white-passing Jewish people (what most folks in America and Canada think of when you say “a Jew”) are not white, we’re Levantine — Semitic — and our ethnicity is what the Holocaust was based on, not our religion. Our ethnic, cultural trauma is not the playground for white goyim (or any goyim) to co-opt and tell poorly, either.
Hi Margaret,
This is another flavor of #OwnVoices and I am sympathetic to your wanting #OwnVoices telling of Holocaust stories.
Wow! So much to think about here in the article and in all these wonderful comments too. Thanks so much for linking up with us at Love to learn and bringing this to our attention. Pinned.
This was an exceptional post, Mia. Thank you for synthesizing all of these discussions and events in one place. As a queer adult/librarian/blogger/etc I have become increasingly sensitive to the privilege my Whiteness and my ability to pass has afforded me throughout life. And one thing I have learned from Debbie Reese which I value above almost anything she’s taught me so far but also that I look to fearfully is that speaking up may almost surely get me ignored, looked over, and labeled by those who feel attacked or who just don’t want “that kind of trouble.” It makes me so angry to witness DR and others like her get criticized for being a voice and, most importantly, for defending who they are and how they are represented. But how sensitive so many are (myself included) and how prone so many are to playing a safe hand, not making waves, not speaking out. I am grateful to be finding a new home in a community of voices that teach me, challenge me, and hold me accountable.
Thank you for your kind words Matthew and for being willing to speak up as an ally.
This is from SC Olsen. I am the only one who can add a link to the comments so here it is:
“Thank you for posting all the discussions about Own Voice. It is an education for me. I want to share a link to a piece titled “How White Women Use Strategic Tears to Avoid Accountability.” I feel to pertains to the Good Men Project’s piece and how some of the white writers are reacting, but I don’t think links are allowed in the comments. So I am emailing it to you in hopes that you consider it sharing it on my behalf in the comments?
Thanks you and regards,
SC Olsen
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/08/how-white-women-use-strategic-tears-to-avoid-accountability “
Thanks for keeping this conversation going. Is there any question that the Penguin Random House UK equity policy will have as its greatest beneficiary white men, who are massively underrepresented in children’s fiction as authors, illustrators, and editors? The field is dominated by white women. The greatest impediments will be for people who come from very small ethnic/national/religious minorities, such as the Botswanian-British or Laotian-British communities. Were this policy duplicated in the United States, one could expect the same outcomes for white men, small ethnic minorities, small Native nations, and small gender minorities.
Basically, beware what we wish for.
Hi Anonymous,
It will be interesting to see how Penguin Random Houe UK equity policy plays out. I think it will result in more #OwnVoices, rather than white men but I guess we shall have to wait and see.
The correct terms for citizens of Botswana are Batswana (plural), Motswana (singular). That’s why #ownvoices matters.
Great post, btw.
Thank you for that correction Alice!!! It is indeed why #ownvoices matter!!
I retired earlier this year after 32 years in Government service. glad to have more time to work on my MG project. However – I grew up in a blue-collar home and know too well what it’s like to be poor. It’s probably the reason why the trendy “diversity” mayhem of the past few years makes me question why most – not all, but most – college or university-educated people who were never poor, nor can comprehend what it is like to go to bed hungry, would decide they can write POC stories about the inner city?
If I lived in the poorest and toughest neighborhoods in New York, or Philadelphia, or Baltimore, or Chicago, or Los Angeles, or the remote reservation with high drug and unemployment, knowing some millennial with a bank full of their grandparent’s money was writing as if they could understand my poor inner-city life, I’d probably be tempted to spit in their eye.
We cannot make White guilt feel better by writing stories of inner city life, written by wealthy white suburbanites. What we need are inner-city children, teens and young adults who desire to write these stories on their own, and that requires support from the same group in the suburbs.
Will they help? Probably not, so they write these perhaps well-meaning stories and believe they are solving the “problem” – fiction written by fictional writers.
Diversity is only another way to pigeon-hole a group of people, and that encourages more discrimination. What is needed is compassion – that’s when the stories will get written, by the people who are the stories themselves.
Hi Frank,
I think #OwnVoices takes diversity one step further. It’s less about the color of your skin and more about writing your own truth, not something that is researched on topics like poverty and racism. I totally agree with you!
Wealthy suburbanites write these perhaps well-meaning stories and believe they are solving the “problem” – fiction written by fictional writers.
Diversity is only another way to pigeon-hole a group of people, and that encourages more discrimination. What is needed is compassion – that’s when the stories will get written, by the people who are the stories themselves.
Hi Frank,
I think also there are trends in publishing that writers want to jump on because they think the book will be really successful and possibly made into a movie. This is why diversity is so trendy now … otherwise why didn’t white writers “have the passion” to write diversity stories before THE HATE U GIVE?
I’m kind of tired of hearing about white privilege. As someone who was beat up by others for being “white” and lived so poor, homeless poor, as a teenager I would like to know how I was supposedly privileged. Also, I had to work my tail off through college because I didn’t get scholarships for being white. Oh, and the hundreds of nos for jobs and rejection letters I’ve received certainly don’t feel like a privilege. But you know, guess I should toughen up because now apparently I’m “frail” in thinking people should be treated like people no matter race or religion. As for #ownvoice I think a good book is a good, well-written book. Nobody can write a book that will universally appeal to everyone. An author who is a homosexual, Latino American from the Bronx wrote a character who was a homosexual, Latino American, got published, and then got slammed by people who were both homosexual and Latino American for not doing it “right”. Be respectful, do your research, get to know people from various life circumstances and cultures, and write a good story. That should be the recipe for a book getting published (I’m looking at you, Gatekeepers), not nonwhite vs white. I love diversity stories by anyone who does them justice. I’m just tired of feeling like the enemy on everyone’s quest for equality. Just like die-hard feminism is wrong to villainize all men. Because, white or not, male or female, we all are individuals. One Asian is not a carbon copy of another. No one is. So, call it white “privilege” or “frailty” but I don’t appreciate being labelled based on just one of my characteristics any more than the next person. #ownvoice should represent that person’s own voice, not an entire people, because everyone’s life path and choices are different, even in similar circumstances.
Here’s a thoughtful article on What is White Privilege from Teaching Tolerance: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really
“White privilege is both unconsciously enjoyed and consciously perpetuated. It is both on the surface and deeply embedded into American life. It is a weightless knapsack—and a weapon.”
People of color in America have been subjected to centuries of systemic racism:
“For example, the ability to accumulate wealth has long been a white privilege—a privilege created by overt, systemic racism in both the public and private sectors. In 2014, the Pew Research Center released a report that revealed the average net worth of a white household was $141,900; for black and Hispanic households, that dropped to $11,000 and $13,700, respectively.”
“Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “white privilege” was less commonly used but generally referred to legal and systemic advantages given to white people by the United States, such as citizenship, the right to vote or the right to buy a house in the neighborhood of their choice.
It was only after discrimination persisted for years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that people like Peggy McIntosh began to view white privilege as being more psychological—a subconscious prejudice perpetuated by white people’s lack of awareness that they held this power. White privilege could be found in day-to-day transactions and in white people’s ability to move through the professional and personal worlds with relative ease.”
White privilege includes the facts that:
– White people are less likely to be followed, interrogated or searched by law enforcement because they look “suspicious.”
– White people’s skin tone will not be a reason people hesitate to trust their credit or financial responsibility.
– If white people are accused of a crime, they are less likely to be presumed guilty, less likely to be sentenced to death and more likely to be portrayed in a fair, nuanced manner by media outlets (see the #IfTheyGunnedMeDown campaign).
– The personal faults or missteps of white people will likely not be used to later deny opportunities or compassion to people who share their racial identity.
While I have many issues with what Victoria is saying above, and it is a frequent argument against the idea of white privilege, there is a kernel of truth that we all must recognize. Everyone’s story is individual. When I read stories of African-American protagonists, often I see myself in them, but sometimes I do not. The same is true of any person’s background, sexual orientation, religious upbringing, gender, culture or race. I feel it is important to acknowledge this fact rather than simply refer to an article referencing how white privilege is true. It is – but we need to look at this through the specific lens of the story, which is what #ownvoices is about.
Hi Jamilia,
I think there is the issue of “single story” or even just not enough #ownvoices authors telling their story but hopefully, this will change as there seems to be more of an interest in diversity in children’s book publishing. It’s a painfully slow change though!
I’m a white man, and I’m working on a MG novel about a dreamer girl from southern Mexico. It would figure to be released in 2022, and the fifth or sixth MG novel of mine released into the world. I haven’t written a story about a middle aged white man yet, nor have I had a male protagonist. In a sense we all must step outside ourselves to tell stories, and as a writer I think that i don’t write because I have something to teach, but rather because I have something to learn. There are certain subjects I couldn’t tell, but as a border state man with a fondness for the best people in my home state— those who have come to live the dream I was born into— it’s a story I am excited to be telling. I’m interviewing as many friends and others as i can whose lives have resembled my young protagonist. Ultimately I always tell the story the muse brings to me— I trust her, and I serve her. Reading stories about people who don’t resemble myself is a way of building empathy, and I think that writing such stories can do this, too. Three cheers for diverse stories, three cheers for diverse storytellers, and diverse agents and editors and artists. I’ve never considered trends when writing what I write. Ever since my first lesson in economic injustice working in a restaurant as a high schooler I’ve been preparing to tell this story, and tell it I must. I hope I can be forgiven that the oppressed class in this instance does not resemble myself. If any other author can tell it more beautifully than I can, then their book should be published over mine.