Mirror For My Daughter's Bookshelf Summary

Both “Mirrors for My Daughter’s Bookshelf” and “Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books?” examine the problem of under-representing minorities in literature, specifically in children’s books. As Walter Myers experienced, without characters through whom one can identify with, reading can feel like intruding. When he sought out characters who resembled him, while developing his identity as an African American young man, he ceased to feel comfortable in a white dominant literary world and so ceased reading. It wasn’t until he read “Sonny’s Blues”, a book he did not particularly enjoy, that he felt connected again because he could relate to the Harlem narrative which was full of characters he knew in real life. Walter Myers difficulty

The best way to explain how this disproportionate publishing of books featuring white protagonists occurred is best stated by mother Sarah Ackerman, who noted that “white privilege afforded [her] a certain level of oblivion to the racial makeup of [the book characters in her daughters books]”. This privilege has blinded many people who are fortunate enough to see themselves reflected back in pop culture, media, and books of all kinds. Media (anything used to represent humanity to the public) acts as an ideological force through which social identity is created and reinforced. For Caucasian individuals, it is not difficult to find traditional ideals reflected at them constantly. From Pollyanna, to Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon and everything in between, they can see themselves reflected back. This ability to see oneself in others is integral in the shaping of an identity within society and within culture. The ease with which Caucasian individuals inhabit the literary world allows them a blindness to the lack of

Minorities, or rather the lack thereof, in the literary world is a shaping force within the American culture. Walter Dean Myers story displays how necessary it is that there be ethnic characters of all dispositions and from all places exist in literature. Taken one step further, Sarah Ackerman, in seeking out books to reflect her daughters’ ethnicity, notes how difficult it is to find books that represent People of Color. This lack of representation reflects a Machiavellian tool of control that benefits the “Princes” (in this case, Publishers) over the public (in this case, ethnic minorities). Our Princes’ “war”, that they are always concerned with, is the world of literature, more specifically turning a profit by publishing and seeking out books perceived as desirable. The decision to not feature minorities in books is one that benefits the Princes, and their war, because books, due to the negative stigmas placed on ethnic minorities, are likely to be received far better if the protagonists are Caucasian. Our “Prince” “attempts to avoid hatred, even if he does not attain love” (Machiavelli 232) by making a key folly in Machiavellian principle, they attempted to appear generous. By slowly brining in characters that are of color as supporting characters in low numbers, by conceding in small areas they hoped to placate their public. In fact, from