Proceedings of the First National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color - 164

the NAACP’s Image Awards, attempting to level the playing field in performance areas of media and to counter the major media’s refusal to present culturally different images to the world. During that time, and immediately thereafter, some editors admitted their cultural isolation. Many had little knowledge of the life of African Americans, especially life outside of New York City. Some attended programs and discussions of these issues, prevalent for a while at the American Library Association. Two of the reasons given for excluding African American images were fears that those materials would not sell in the South and assumptions that no African American market existed or was worth pursuing. Many issues regarding the presentation of African Americans in literature were discussed. Among them was an apparent syndrome which existed among Caucasian authors in presenting African American characters. It was termed the “suffering servant” syndrome which appeared to apply in particular to “acceptable” African American male portrayals. In essence this is the African American character that serves and probably saves a Caucasian person, often a child, and is considered heroic for this reason. One book accused of this syndrome was The Cay by Theodore Taylor. 1. Another problem was the presentation of white characters as always smart, handsome or pretty while black characters were secondary, ignorant or almost invisible. The fact that a character was “black” might in some cases is the only descriptor. In the case of The Cay, mentioned before, descriptors presented the West Indian male as looking almost horrific and revolting, while the cover picture represented an “everyman” Black male. Presentation of language was a problem which had been attacked much earlier. Augusta Baker, renowned children’s literature specialist and storyteller wrote about her early involvement in challenges to editors in an article titled, Guidelines for Black Books: an Open Letter to Editors. She 164 mentions that at one time books were so full of dialect you couldn’t understand them and suggests that only regional vernacular is acceptable. She declares that no derogatory terms should be included in children’s books unless historically necessary. 2. Regarding language use, years of relegating African Americans to invisible or negative status has deprived everyone, including African American authors, of adequate descriptive language. For example, “black” is not an appropriate descriptor for all characters. African American authors as well as others are challenged to be inventive in presenting such descriptors. Walter Mosley wrote, “black people are not all black, they are white people and yellow people, red and brown people who feel the beat of history in their blood, while they witness the barbarism of hierarchy.” 3. Several African American authors of children’s books entered the market during those turbulent times, due to advocacy by librarians. The Council on Interracial Books’ publication, edited by Brad Chambers, Bulletin of Interracial Books for Children, became one of the prominent publications airing issues of racism and multiculturalism. The Council sponsored writing contests seeking books for children about cultural groups. Some of those contest winners received publishers’ contracts. It was hoped that the force of example combined with social forces would promote continued response and inclusion. To some extent, this was true. Some authors who entered the market at that time have sustained their careers. However, the entry of new authors may be limited. As the acute interest of the society subsided with the quieting of civil rights protests, interest waned. The changing nature of publishing from smaller independent houses to large corporate entities also affected interest in social responsibility. (For information about the Council on Interracial Books, see an article by Beryle Banfield, “Commitment to Change: the Council on Interracial Books for Children and the World of Children’s Books,” African Review, Spring 1998)

Proceedings of the First National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color

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