Black Lives Matter- research and awareness

We Need to Teach Diverse Literature

What have the books that have been taught to you, actually taught you?

We all know that the school system sucks at covering Black history.

    If you were to ask someone what part of school they remember, they might say required reading.

So now, we're moving a little bit beyond the walls of the history classroom. We're talking about the English curriculum as well.

This isn't researched quite yet, this is just my thoughts and experiences. I will do some research in the next few days, though, so fear not. This is just something that has caught my attention.

    Today I'm just going to talk about how some of our required reading really isn't all that relevant, and that we need more diverse books.

In English, it's important that we read different narratives and touch on different subjects. Yet, where are the POC authors? So far, I haven't really read much in school by Black authors (though this year The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is required reading and I'm very very happy about the fact that 1. We're reading from a Black author and 2. We're finally going to go in depth into the discussion on modern racism). Beyond that, however, when it comes to the high school program, what relevance does the classic list of required reading have?

When looking at popular required reading books, I find books that are relevant, and ones that just simply... aren't. Some of them are important to read. A lot are from the past, and while they may have been hyped up to be brilliant, what issues are we discussing? And are they of any educational value to us?

For example, in William Golding's The Lord of the Flies, I found the entire thing to be a bit unbelievable. It just didn't feel relevant like The Diary of Anne Frank was. The Giver was a well crafted exploration into the genre of dystopia. The Diary of Anne Frank was a first hand encounter of the horrors of World War II. The Hate U Give talks about the problem of the incessant murder of innocent Black people by the police and the lack of justice that those who we have lost are given.

The Lord of the Flies was a story about preteen males losing their minds. On an island. Who just happened to all crash land. No adults survived. It's not exactly what one would call realistic. I get that preteen boys can be more than a hassle to deal with, but I can't see them all turning into crazed murderers. Now, I understand the importance of satirical writing. Yet this...

We could've chosen a better book.

So when educators look at the list of required reading, they should focus on the relevance. Is it an important piece touching on historical matters? Is it a well crafted look into a genre? Does it show brilliant technique? Are the main characters good for learning a lesson/being a role model? And finally, educators need to start assigning diverse literature. I get that the classics list is important, but the classics list has been around for a long time. Now that it's safer for authors to publish things concerning race, sexuality, gender identity, etc., I'd encourage educators to look into those books, because those lessons will be important to us in life more than the same philosophical principles that they grind into our brains.

All students should be able to see themselves in the books that are required to read. We should start reading books about being Black in modern day society, we should following POC protagonists, and kids of all backgrounds (whether they're Black, Asian, or Latinx) should be able to see themselves in the books they are forced to read.

It's time we start looking at the literature that is relevant, rather than what is recommended. I think out of all of the school books I've read, I think two were by a Black author. Why don't we break out of this cycle of reading the same old things and start teaching new classics? Why don't we take this chance to teach kids that their voices are heard in the world, no matter what their background is?

Sure, the discussions might be uncomfortable. Well, that's good. We shouldn't turn away from uncomfortable books. We should embrace them.

Why is it that we stick to the same list of books that has been around since my grandparents were in school? We need to start reading more books by Black authors. We need to start teaching more books by Black authors. Everyone should see themselves in required reading, not just white kids.

    Right now, I haven't read more than two books in school with Black protagonists. We need to change that. We need to start assessing our reading lists and pointing out when books aren't all that great or helpful. We need to start taking out the over hyped books that don't actually hold any educational value and replace them with ones that do. We need to add in more books by Black authors. We can't let the books that Black authors of the past wrote that were put down by white readers continue to be unseen. Their voices deserve to be heard. Same goes for modern day writers. We need to start reading books that are relevant to our futures.

    We should all start making an effort to read more in our private lives by Black authors. I know that I for one, really can do a lot better with it. Do some research. Find some Black authors in the genres you like and check them out. I know that I need to do the same.

    In school, the literature we are reading shouldn't just represent some of us. Everyone deserves to see themselves in the literature we read in school.

    I'm taking a day off from writing tomorrow, but I'll be back Monday with "No, It's Not Just an American Problem." Until then, I love you all, and stay safe!

    -Nova