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Hey fellow white folks, if you're raising white children, it's important that you don't just give them "yay the rainbow of diversity!" books but also books about Black and Brown people in which there are no white people at all.
I'm thinking about picture books for younger kids specifically right now. So many books out there with good intentions, but in "celebrating diversity" still have 50% white kids on the page and 50% "everybody else."
I promise you your children notice.
I promise you your children notice.
I also promise that your white child will be fine reading books with no white folks. I promise they'll have whiteness reinforced by a gazillion other sources, most of which you won't even notice. In the media you *choose* for them, choose to decenter whiteness. Little else will.
(Note: "I promise they'll have whiteness reinforced by a gazillion other sources" isn't meant to sound like relief. It's meant to note the insidiousness of white supremacy.)
Last thing: one thing I've learned in doing anti-racist education for white adults and young adults is that there comes a time when white people are uncomfortable with the idea of all-Black spaces. "But that's not equality! We should be learning together!"
White parents, teach your white children young that we do not need to be everywhere. That a room without a white person in it is sometimes safer because of that fact. That there are worlds where whiteness isn't present and THAT'S OKAY.
Okay, actually ONE more thing. About books.
PLEASE ALLOW YOURSELF TO GIVE UP YOUR FAVORITE THINGS.
"Classic children's books" usually = all-white children's books. Just because it was your fave as a kid doesn't mean you're not asking your child to inherit a void.
PLEASE ALLOW YOURSELF TO GIVE UP YOUR FAVORITE THINGS.
"Classic children's books" usually = all-white children's books. Just because it was your fave as a kid doesn't mean you're not asking your child to inherit a void.
