As we write this paper, multicultural literature and Black History are under attack — led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Educators are being sanctioned and under threat of being fired. Nonetheless, some teachers stand steadfast in their commitment to exposing students to authentic literature about and by Black scholars — historians, authors, social activists, etc.
A great deal of attention has focused on the crucial need for high-quality multicultural literature in PreK-12 schools and academic settings. Most noticeably, Rudine Sims Bishop, a distinguished and esteemed scholar in the field of children’s literature, authored an essay titled "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" (Bishop, 1990), which made a compelling case for including diverse reading materials in classroom instruction. The essay posited that exposing students to literary works with a range of perspectives, representative of those historically marginalized and underrepresented and the diversity of the human experience – specifically across culture and ethnicity – could facilitate greater self-awareness and pride along with a deeper comprehension of the world around them.
Dr. Donna Y. Ford
Her framework is an unapologetic concrete reminder that all students benefit from exposure to non-white literature and may have also contributed to the conceptual framework of decolonizing the classroom bookshelf in that the use of more diverse children’s literature supports challenging the status quo, elevating marginalized voices, and fostering a sense of belonging and identity for all children. It ensures that the stories we read with and to children, and especially those that are part of the school curriculum, are reflective of the diverse realities of our global society.
While Sims’ work has been applied in many PreK-12 pedagogical contexts, diversity reflected in the human experience is ageless — just as young student-learners benefit from multicultural literature, so can older students and adult learners in colleges and universities. Very little has been done in higher education to ensure that adult learners are afforded the opportunity to experience “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors” in the readings selected for university-level coursework. Problematically, for some educators in the majority white academy, the need for and benefits of multicultural literature remain elusive by choice, lack thereof, or inadequate exposure in their own PreK-12 schooling, higher education preparation, and subsequent professional development.
Dr. Cynthia A. Tyson
An examination of the literary canon, research, and readings in most higher education courses often reflects narratives from the dominant culture that has a heritage connected to colonialism and systemic racism. This dominance has resulted in the marginalization and underrepresentation of works by authors from diverse racial, ethnic, language, and cultural backgrounds. These canons show up in syllabi comprising collections of texts considered the most significant and influential in literature, and they continue the tradition of reflecting the perspectives and experiences of the dominant culture while excluding or minimizing the voices of marginalized and oppressed communities. The result is the reification of the “single story” narrative, racism, and entrenched beliefs in White superiority, Black inferiority, and anti-Blackness.
