The characters in children’s books and other media are the first, and often only, “mirrors and windows” through which we learn about race.
As Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche warned in her famous TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story,
“Stories matter…Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”
As educators, we have the power to introduce our students to stories and characters that either enhance or harm their identity development, self-esteem, sense of empathy, and overall worldview.