Allow Black Children To Choose Books | Toronto Star

Letter to the Editor of the Toronto Star on avoiding racism in the selection of children's library books

Keywords: Anne Robertson, black children, Black History Month, book illustrations, books for children, Children's Aid Society, children's books, children's libraries, children's literature, civil rights, ethnic libraries, letters to the editor, libraries, Marcus Garvey Group Home, Michele Landsberg, racism, Third World Books, Toronto, Toronto Star, Victoria Gaitskell

1. Letters to the Editor:

Allow black children to choose books

Michele Landsberg should be
commended for her good inten-
tions in observing Black History
Month by compiling a reading
list about which she asserts:
“Black children deserve the
pride, pleasure and affirmation
they'll draw from these splendid
books” (Jan. 29).

I would like to contribute the
following remarks in the interest
of added perspective.

I have had many conversations
with Anne Robertson, who creat-
ed libraries for use by black chil-
dren in both the Children’s Aid
Society and Marcus Garvey
Group Home in Toronto. Robert-
son says that one of the princi-
ples she learned for purchasing

* books successfully was the im-

portance of allowing black chil-
dren to make their own selec-
tions of literature specifically of
interest to them.

Evidently, not all books by, or
about, or depicting black people
proved appropriate in this con-
text. Robertson, a white person,
observed that in many cases their
selections differed from hers
both in appearance and content.

For instance, she was surprised
when books illustrated in earth
tones and monochrome sketches
were chosen in preference to
more brightly colored ones. Rob-
ertson suggested that anyone in-
terested in an alternative to
Landsberg as a source of infor-

mation on choosing literature for
black children might contact
Leonard Johnston, who operates
Third World Books in Toronto.

The tendency must be avoided
that, in thinking they know best,
persons in the majority may
usurp the minority person’s pow-
ers of decision,

It is all very well to respond
that good literature is unilaterally
appropriate for both black and
white children. This will be true
on the day The Star prints the
work of a black writer containing
a reading list for white people’s
children,

VICTORIA GAITSKELL
Toronto