De Que Colores: A Critical Examination of Multicultural Children's Books

Quantity and Quality: The Need for Culturally Authentic Trade Books in Asian-American Young Adult Literature

“…For example, the Asian-American experience is often relegated to Chinese New Year and/or lessons surrounding the California Gold Rush and transcontinental railroad; such prac tices may promote tokenism (Banks, 2003). Also, the current practice of using these books for holidays may promote exoticism (Willis-Rivera & Meeker, 2002) as Asian-Americans are placed outside the common historical narrative (Wills & Mehan, 1996). Thus, the effective use of multicultural children's literature, via employment of a critical lens, may better equip them to function in a pluralistic society (Leung, 2003).…”

“…Asian-Ameri cans have experiences, people and histories that extend beyond Chinese New Year. The lack of adequate representa tions of Asian-Americans is detri mental to all of our students in that: (1) the proliferation of degrading stereotypes serve to dehumanize the history, lives and experiences of Asian-Americans which fosters racism and prejudice; and (2) the absence or silencing of insider perspectives marginalizes Asian-Americans which encourages cultural separatism (Willis-Rivera & Meeker, 2002). In this marginalization of Asian-Americans and other minorities from popular discourse, we may continue to replicate current systems of white, patriarchal hegemonic practices.…”

“…Willis- Rivera and Meeker (2002) contend that teachers do not include multicultural literature in their classrooms for fear of giving the wrong message. Not being a member of the group, some teachers fear offending others and/or inadvertently selecting and sharing inappropriate books.…”

How Does Hispanic Portrayal in Children's Books Measure Up After 40 Years? The Answer Is “It Depends.”

“…Studies of multicultural literature from additional perspectives, such as from a critical, postmodern perspective, which challenges even the very definition of multicultural literature itself, may provide new insights into multicultural literature and suggest alternative criteria by which to judge it (Willis-Rivera & Meeker, 2002). For example, Willis-Rivera and Meeker pursued research in this area by examining some of the subtle ways in which authors of multicultural children's books implicitly position the reader and characters of fiction as white, privileged, and separate from others of color.…”

Η Λευκή Φυλετική Ταυτότητα Στο Σύγχρονο Βιβλίο Για Παιδιά

“…Θα πρέπει να παρέχουν ακριβείς απεικονίσεις και αληθινές αφηγήσεις της κοινωνικής πραγματικότητας, ενδυναμώνοντας τους μικρούς αναγνώστες να διαμορφώσουν μια ισχυρή φυλετική και πολιτισμική ταυτότητα. Οι διαφορές μεταξύ των ποικίλων και εναλλασσόμενων πληθυσμιακών ομάδων που συνθέτουν τις σύγχρονες πολυπολιτισμικές κοινωνίες είναι πραγματικότητα κι αν δεν εκπαιδεύσουμε τα παιδιά να τις αντιληφθούν, να τις κατανοήσουν, να τις σεβαστούν, το αποτέλεσμα θα είναι να σχηματίσουν στερεοτυπικές αντιλήψεις για τον εαυτό τους και τους Άλλους (Rivera & Meeker, 2002).…”