SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Politics in Practice
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

June 9, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Sunday Reflections: Thinking Beyond Stereotypes

June 9, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS   1 comments

Earlier this week I came across an interesting, though heartbreaking older post by Debbie Reese regarding her experience being racially profiled.  If you are not familiar with Debbie Reese, she runs a blog titled American Indians in Children’s Literature where she examines the various ways that American Indians are depicted in the culture at large, but in particular in children’s literature.  Her post reminded me that I wanted to write this post.  So here we go.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird 

The other day I sat eating lunch with a friend when she told me a troubling story.  She has a friend who is white and married to a black man.  Together they have two children, one preteen and one teen.  This man, although born in the U.S., was raised abroad in a Catholic boarding school in England.  He speaks with a faint but charming British accent.  They were recently going to visit one of the teen’s friends in the hospital and they stopped to pick up another young man to take with them.  Still with me? Since it would only take a moment, the mother ran quickly into the friend’s house to pick up the young man while the rest of the family waited in the car – the rest of the family being the dad and their two boys.  Soon, the police pulled up and began questioning the 3 men: Why were they there? Why were they sitting in the car? Etc.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

That’s what life is like for these young men – they are always a suspect simply because of the color of their skin.  Here they were sitting outside a home, anxious to go see if their friend in a tragic car accident was going to be okay, and they were suddenly having to defend themselves.  A neighbor had called the police because there were some “suspicious persons” in the neighborhood.  They were the suspicious someone’s.  In case it isn’t clear, they were suspicious because they were not white.

“Atticus, he was real nice.”

“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird 

My family often go places and my husband will run in while I sit a moment in the car.  For me, every extra spare moment is another moment to read.  No one has ever called the police on me.  Perhaps in part because I am a woman, but also in part because I have the preferred color of skin.  And trust me, being a woman comes with its own set of cultural challenges.

I run a teen volunteer program where we have, on average, around 60 applications on file at a time.  One of my best volunteers happens to be a young man who many people would find threatening simply because of the color of his skin.  What they don’t know is that he is probably going to be his class valedictorian, and last year during our Summer Reading Program he logged in over 90 volunteer hours.  And yet when he walks into a store or down the street, many people will automatically assume the worst of him because the tone of his skin is dark.  That makes my heart ache for him.

Last week, Cheerios made the news for a commercial they made.  Actually, it wasn’t so much for the commercial, but for people’s reactions to the commercial.  You see, in their commercial they presented a multi-racial family; a white mother and a black man.  The comments were livid and disturbing.  Here we are in 2013 still talking about race and racism.

I had dinner with a publisher recently, who shall remain unnamed, and we discussed the lack of diversity in YA lit.  Said publisher recognized that it was an issue but followed up with the statement that every time they tried to publish books with more diversity, they didn’t sell.   Would Twilight have been less popular if Bella or Edward, or both, had been black? Or Native American? What if Harry Potter had been Middle Eastern?  Side note: It probably doesn’t help that in a lot of fiction with a main character that is not white they are inner city gangs or pregnant teenage girls, which is in itself another stereotype.  Where are the Huxtables in our teen lit?

Though to a lesser degree,stereotypes are not just about race and ethnicity.  Anne of Green Gables was judged because of the color of her hair.  And how many dumb blond jokes have laughed at in your lifetime?

“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird 

Here is a simple fact: When you see a person, you know NOTHING about them.  You don’t know where they have come from.  You don’t know where they are going.  You don’t know how they think, feel or act.  All you know is what they look like, which tells you absolutely nothing.

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

How MEXIKID Was Made, with Pedro Martín

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Picture Book Reprints

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Science Comics: Frogs | Review

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

The search is on for the 2024 Heavy Medal Award Committee

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Politics in Practice

November 2023 Election Hot Take: It was a good night for libraries, a bad night for censorship

by Peter Bromberg

The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Serving Blind and Low-Vision Children Well Benefits All Students. Here Are Suggestions.

37 Kidlit and YA Titles in Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month

The Fine Art of Genrefying Collections

Nine Funny Graphic Novels About Talking Animals | Stellar Panels

Duke MDs’ Prescription for Schools? Masks, with Enforcement, and Psychological Support for Teachers, Students.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. L. Shanna says

    June 14, 2013 at 1:14 pm

    A great post, and worth sharing! Thanks.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Politics in Practice
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • Refreshing the Canon Booklist
  • Read Free Poster
  • 2023 Youth Media Awards
  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023