Censorship and the Black Child: Can the Real Story Ever Be Told?

Abstract

In its broadest definition, censorship of the black child in American children's literature has meant the neglect, misrepresentation, or a limited picture of the black child through the decades; in its more specialized definition it has meant the rejection, banning, or revision of books. Real stories are being told today, just as they were as early as 1932 when black writers wrote the scripts, but we need to know more about the black child and more about workable alternatives to censorship. One possibility, the historical perspective, can assist in disseminating the knowledge about themselves and one another that children so greatly need.