Multi-Ethnic Children's Literature For the Primary-Grade Child: A Student's Concern

Children's literature of past decades has fostered negative auitu'cJes toward racial minority groups in America, conscious! y or unconsciously, through sterile, biased treaunent of segments of the population or through complete omission of them in books for children. The Negro, Oriental, Spanish-American, and American Indian were large! y neglected by amhors and publishers as suitable subjects for children's books in favor of the dominant, all-white, middle­class group.

Fortunatdy, beginning in the late I950's, multi­ethnic children's literature has come into its own. More books are being written and published about minority groups than ever before. And the trend is moving away from moralistic, patronizing, and ster­eotyped portrayals characteristic of earlier books, to sensitive, realistic, and accurate depictions of racial minorities. But "there is a long history of unfavorable characterizations of minority groups to overcome. " 1

Although great strides have been made in this area, there is still a paucity of good books for the young child. Most literature about minority Americans has been directed toward the older, more mature child. Yet, if one notes that "the crucial period in the formation and pauerning of racial attitudes begins at around the age of four or five, "2 one cannot afford to overlook this group.

Multi-ethnic literature should not be viewed as a panacea for inter-group problems and misunder­standings but rather as an auempt to portray the plu­ralistic, cultural diverse society we live in. Since books are so much a part of a child's world, they may serve as an important introduction to understanding those

Annette Shiramizu

who are rncially and culturally different. Many Amer­ican children, living in sheltered neighborhoods, have little opportunity to become acquainted with racial minorities living in this country. Books can bridge the gap. In addinon to helping children of the dominant Anglo-American group move out of their ethnocentric sphere, books more importantly may aid in the development of a positive self-concept among the children of the minority groups.

My own interest in this new and relatively un­explored area grew out of a grJduate course in chil­dren's literature in which I researched and analyzed the lives and works of three Japanese author-illustra­tors of children's books. Taro Yashima's three picture books about a Japanese-American girl, in particular, reveakd that there arc some excellent books depicting minority Americans. Dr. David Gast's article in the May 1970 issue of Elementary English,' "The Dawn· ing of the Age of Aquarius for Multi-Ethnic Children's Literature," served as the stimulus for conducting my own study. His article raised some serious questions Jbout approaches to the treatment of minority Amer­icans in literature.

My study was limited to an analysis of how three racial minorities are portrayed in contemporary chil­dren's literature: the American Negro, Japanese­American, and Chinese-American. The selection of these groups was based on my own familiarity with them as they constitute an important part o( the pop· ulation of Hawaii. My research was further limited to children's fiction or the primary-grade child (K-3); picture books and picture stories. A picture book was defined as a book with little or no text, while a picture story was one in which the "pictures are so integral

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a part of the content that the story can actually be 'read' by the child from the pictures. " 4 Only children's fiction published between the years 1954 and 1970 inclusive was included in the study.

Very few studies had been designed to analyze images of minority groups in children's literature prior lo the I 960's. The limited research which had been conducted dearly showed that minorities had been stereotyped and that "stereotypes were perpetuated in the face of the changing reality of social fact. " 5

Perhaps the most complete and significant (in terms of implications and recommendations) of the research studies undertaken in recent years was one done by Dr. David Gast of San Diego State College. Dr. Gast began his study in 1961, completed it in 1965, and reported his findings in a paper based on his unpub­lished doctoral dissertation, "Characteristics and Concepts of Minority Americans in Contemporary Children's Fictional Literature," in 1967. In the study, he attempted to (I) identify the characteristics of and concepts about present-day American Indians, Chi­nese, Japanese, Negroes, and Spanish-Americans in children's fiction, (2) lo find the identifiable stereo­types attributed to these groups, and (3) lo compare this treatment with related studies of adult magazine fiction and school instructional materials.

The population of the study consisted of all chil­dren's fiction in book form about the five groups first published between 19~5 and 1962, for kindergarten through eighth grade reading levels. Forty-two books were analyzed as a total sample: two about the Chinese, five about the Japanese, and sixteen about the Negro. Cast's method of analysis was based on the Berelson and Salter technique of character analysis and the Katz and Braly List of Verbal Stereotypes. His findings, as they relate lo the American Negro, Japanese-American, and Chinese­American, were that recent children's fiction:

I. genera II y portrays the three groups as having adopted the dominant middle-class American values related to cleanliness, kindness, intelli­gence, ambition, hard work, and success.

2. contains complimentary stereotypes of the groups.

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Middle-class Anglo-American virtues make up the new stereotypes imputed to these minori­ties by the authors of the literature. The image of the Negro in children's fiction represents an almost exact reversal of traditional Negro stereo-

types with one exception: "Negros arc musical." 3. portrays the Chinese as having lower-class socio­

economic status, Negros as evenly distributed as to lower- and middle-class status rating, and the Japanese as being of the middle-class.

4. contains occupational stereotypes of all minority groups except the Negro who is represented in a wide range of occupations. The common stereo­types of the Chinese cook and the Japanese gardener are perpetuated in recent literature.

5. portrays Japanese and Negros as being more thoroughly assimilated into the dominant culture and having more social interaction with Anglo­Americans than the Chinese. The Japanese and Negro minorities are shown to live among Anglo­Americans in integrated neighborhoods while the Chinese are portrayed living in "Chinatown."

6. depicts the Chinese as taking pride in its ethnic culture and clinging lo traditional patterns of life while accepting some of the material goods and economic motivations of the dominant culture.

7. while emphasizing themes of social equality in the books about Negros, deemphasizes physical differences between Negros and Anglo-Americans by portraying light-skinned Negros as represen­tative of the Negro minority.

8. depicts social acceptance in the dominant Anglo­American culture as the predominant theme in books about the Negro minority, while it is only a minor theme in books about the Japanese and Chinese.

9. dignifies the diUerence in race, creed, and custom of the minority Americans and emphasizes sim­ilarities rather than differences between groups with regard to behaviors, attitudes, and values.

IO. contains a dearth of books about Negros i,n the picture book and primary-grade reading levels.6

The total sample for my study was chosen from the picture book and picture story collections at four local libraries: the Gregg M. Sinclair Library, Uni­versity of Hawaii; the Curriculum Library, College of Education, University of Hawaii; the Hawaii State Library; and the Kaimuki Branch Library. A total of thirty-eight children's fictional books constituted the population of the study: twenty-seven about the Negro-American, seven about Japanese-Americans,

and four about Chinese-Americans. Each of the books was analyzed and evaluated in

terms of the honesty and sincerity with which a minority group was portrayed and the degree to which it is an accurate and realistic depiction of the group in contemporary American society. These criteria were determined by an absence of conven­tional stereotypes, false generalizations, and snap judgements wilhin the broad range of categories listed and defined below:

I. Physical traits and characteristics a. Lack of caricatures ridiculing a race or group,

i.e., Negros wilh unusually dark, black skin, kinky hair, and thick lips; Orientals with mark­edly yellow skin and slanted eyes.

b. Illustrations drawn with the normal proportions of the human frame; no distortions or exag­gerations.

2. Status position (occupational, economic, educa­tional, and social)

a. Freedom frQm feelings of inferiority. b. Illustrations showing the members of a group

engaged in a wide variety of occupations. c. Depictions of minority groups from various

economic, and educational backgrounds. 3. Personality traits

a. Omission of dialect that is overdrawn or in­consistent with the way in which the average person speaks.

b. Freedom from derisive names and epithets. c. Elimination of false generalizations and over­

simplifications with regard to character, i.e., the silly Japanese, the si)rewd Chinese.

4. Goals and values a. Social acceptance should not be the only goal

anributed lo the Negro in literature. b. Non-assimilability into the Anglo-American cul­

ture should not be presented as preponder­ant among the Chinese.

c. Universal goals and values should be pre­sented in the 1 iterature; similarities rather than only differences.

Taken as a whole, the thirty-eight picture books and picture stories read, analyzed, and evaluated were of high literary merit and depicted the three minority American groups wilh honesty, sincerity, and ac­curacy. Stereotypes, with a few exceptions, most notably among the books about the Oriental minori-

ties, were largely missing from the literature. The illustrations in all of the books accurately de­

picted !he physical traits and characteristics of the lhree groups. Artists, employing a wide variety of media, suggested differences in physical make-up among the ethnic groups without resorting to exag­gerations and caricature. Polly Greenberg's Oh Lord, I Wish I Was a Buzzard, with illustrations by Aliki, was an exception. Although this is a delightful book with rhythmic text, the pictures show two Negro children and their father with unusually dark skin, thick lips, and kinky hair, leaning toward stereo­typing.

Negros were portrayed as engaging in a wide var­iety of occupations in the children's books. Mary Jo's falher in Janice May Udry's charming picture stories, What Mary Jo Wanted and What Mary Jo Shared, is a hi~h school teacher. Jenny's father in Grete Mann­heim's photographic story, The Two Friends, is a blue­collar worker. There are also Negro policemen, sales­people, housewives, and working mothers portrayed. Occupational stereotypes were common in the books on the Oriental minorities. Two of the seven books about !he Japanese-American contained these stereo­types; a Japanese florist in Helen Copeland's Meet Miki Takino and a grocery store owner whose hobby is working in his Japanese garden in Leo Politi's Mieko. Chinese occupational stereotypes were present in the laundry owners of Soo Ling Finds a Way, by June Behrans and !he merchant or shopkeeper in Patricia Miles Martin's The Rice Bowl Pet. For­tunately, the author of Soo Ling included a Chinese postman as well, and Helen Cloutier presents a Chinese engaged in a profession in Many Names of Lee Lu.

Most or the books in the study generally portray the three groups with different socio-economic back­grounds. Peter, the engaging hero of Ezra Jack Keat's five picture books, Martin of Ann Scott's Big Cowboy Western, and Ricky or the Hawkinson's Little Boy Who Lives Up High are Negro children living in inner­city neighborhoods and whose"families belong to the lower-middle socio-economic group. Mary Jo and Joey of Robert Burch's Joey's Cat live in their own homes. The same holds true for the Japanese­American characters in children's literature.

Of the four books on the Chinese-American child, three presented him living in Chinatown. With the ex­ception of Cloutier's Many Names of Lee Lu, none of

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the books presented the Chinese-American children interacting with the Anglo-Americans or other groups. The older Chinese are pictured wearing traditional Chinese garb and clinging to traditional patterns of life. This is in glaring contrast to the Negros and Jap· anese who live in integrated neighborhoods, dress in Western clothes, and assimilate into the American way of life.

No stereotypes were found in the personality and character traits of the minority Americans in the chil­dren's books evaluated. Authors wrote in a manner consistent with average, realistic speech. Although Chinese and Japanese words and phrases were o£ten integrated with the text, they did not detract from the story. Heavy overdrawn dialect was missing from the books.

Children's literature about minority Americans should "stress likenesses that help children feel a sense of oneness with other members of the world­wide family as well as present differences as varia­tions that add richness to life. "7 This statement char­acterizes, for the most pan, the thirty-eight books with respect to goals and values presented. Aside from physical differences with respect to facial make-up and clothing, and cultural differences, the characters portrayed are believable in their needs, values, and aspirations. The children in the stories arc universal in their need to be accepted, their dreams of obtaining a new toy or pet, their desire to explore the new and different, and their eager anticipation of growing up. Joan Lexau's Negro-American boy Benjie overcomes his shyness and timidity by doing the impossible for someone he loves. Leo Politi's Mieko discovers that being Queen of the Nisei Week Ondo Parade is not the only way to bring her parents honor and hap­piness. Similarly, June Behren's Soo Ling finds a novel way to help her grandfather from going out of business.

Authors and publishers have come a long way in integrating what Nancy Larrick called "the all­white world of children's books." Books about minority Americans for the younger child have increased in both quality and quantity in recent years. With a few exceptions, stereotypes arc giving way to sensitive and realistic portrayals of racial minorities. This is indeed a welcome sign in the right direction.

Reiterating a point made earlier, children's litera­ture should not serve as a panacea for inter-group

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problems. Children learn racial attitudes through their interaction with others. But books may serve as a springboard from which racial awareness and understanding may be attained in a small, but never­theless significant way.

FOOTNOTES

I. Cohen, Sol. "Mmori1y S1creotYfX!s in Children's Li1cra1ure: The Hohhsq Twins, 190-1-1968," The Edurntrrmnl Forum, Vol. 3·1. No I. No\·emhcr 1969, p. 120.

2. lh11J. 3. Casi, D:n·id K., "Tht: Dawning 0£ the Agt: 0£ Aquarius £or 1\luhi­

E1hnic Children's Li1cr.1111rc," £/rmentary E.ng/1Jli, J\lar l!.170.

·I. Arh111h1101 , Mar I !ill, Clultlre11 n11d Books, Third Edition, Glcn­\Je1\', Illinois: Stoll, Foresman ;1ml Co.

5. Casi, D;1\'id K .. " i\linoril)' Americans in Children's Li1l'rmure," Elemr11tnry £,1gluh, Janurar 1967.

6. lhid. 7. Amt'ri<an Fricml~ St'.n l<C Con1111i11ct•, An11-Drfama11on L.t•aguc

or ll'nai ll'ri1h, /looks for Fr1r111/sl11J1: ,I Lut of /luokJ Uernm · mended fur Cl11/dm1, 1968, p. 7.

Annelle Sl1irami:u u prr.ff'1ttly n gradunlt!' stude11I m thr College of Erluca11n11, U11111ers1ly of Hawa11 Jiur.rnmg n Mastn's Degru 111

Elemnr/ary &/uca/1011 with an rmf1/1n.ns 011 Cl11ldre11's L1/ernl11rl'. She lwlds ·a B.Ecl. 111 F,/emmlary Fducntum from tl,e U111vers1ty of 1-lnwa,i.