Two decades ago only about 9 percent of children’s books published in the U.S. were about people of color. Things have changed since then, but not by much.
On Wednesday, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison’s Education School revealed that in 2016, it counted 427 books written or illustrated by people of color, and 736 books about people of color out of about 3,400 books it analyzed. That adds up to 22 percent of children’s books.
The CCBC tracks how many books are published by and about people of color every year. Since 1994, it has had categories for black, Latino, Native American and Asian Pacific Americans, who make up a combined 38 percent of the population.
The center started keeping track prompted by requests from teachers who had mostly students of color but couldn’t find books to reflect their experiences. “And in some cases, they were looking for books that didn’t exist,” said Director Kathleen Horning. She says that the reluctance to tell stories about people of color is something that you see across multiple fields, from television to the Academy Awards to publishing. “There’s no problem with publishing five or six books in a season about bunnies,” Horning said. “But if we’re talking about books about black boys?”
Stacey Barney, a senior editor at Penguin Putnam Young Readers, said that one of the most important things about literature — particularly literature consumed by children and young adults — is that it helps young people learn to look beyond their own personal experiences. “You can grow up and think, ‘Oh, well everybody must get up and watch cartoons and eat cereal and go to school and that’s just what life is.’ ”
She said young readers aren’t really familiar with experiences outside their own. She grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., a very diverse city. “But still I was unaware until I started reading books that prompted me to look outside of my experience. … Books that are about black people or about Muslims or about Asians can also find a home and be loved by people who are not of that culture.”
People from across the country are looking for ways to help families of the 10 people killed at a King Soopers in Boulder on March 22.
We've compiled a list of area groups that are collecting contributions in the aftermath of the shooting.
In July, we published this statement in recognition of the work we needed to begin at CPR to confront issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in our newsroom and organization as a whole.
We know this work is urgent, and we are dedicated to doing it thoroughly and connecting it with our vision and mission to reach all and serve everyone in Colorado.
Here is an update on our progress over the last eight months.
It takes a good day’s drive to cover Colorado, but we’ll help you do it in a few minutes each morning. The Lookout daily email brings you a closer look at the issues that affect you with a rundown of important fact-based reporting — with a side of Colorado flavor.