Source: American Renaissance, May 1992, Vol 3, No. 5 (Slightly reformatted by webmaster)

Books for Blacks/Books for Whites

Books for Blacks

The same racial dynamic at work in society at large can be found in book publishing: obligatory integration and inclusion for whites; voluntary separation for blacks. While mainstream publishers hire more blacks and publish more books by and about blacks, new publishers with names like Black Classic Press, Just Us Books, and Black Butterfly have no reservations about establishing exclusive racial identities.

There is now an African-American Publishers and Booksellers Association, and a regularly published list of racially correct best-sellers, called Blackboard. In the past decade, the number of book stores that specialize in black books has grown from a few dozen to more than 200.

One of the main areas of growth has been children's books for blacks — by blacks and about blacks. Titles like Jamal's Busy Day and Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes From A to Z do the very thing that books for white children are now forbidden to do: paint all the characters one color. Liberal white educators have been culling the old classics because they either don't have any black characters (Winnie the Pooh, Grimm's Fairy Tales) or they have the wrong ones (Uncle Remus stories, Huckleberry Finn). Dick and Jane went out of print in the 1970s, and scarcely a new title for white children comes out without friendly Hispanic neighbors and a black lady police officer.

Blacks aren't interested in integrated children's books. They want stories about black people, set in black neighborhoods, and they don't want to have to paw through shelves of integrated books in order to find them. One seller of books for blacks says, "People of color want these books separated out [for display in stores] because they are looking for something very specific."

Only certain people can write these books, explains Candy Boyd, a black author of black children's books: "There are primary writers who write from 'inside the skin … and there are secondary writers who write from 'outside the skin.' The story of a secondary writer can still be valid, but the perception is not equal to that of a primary writer." [Publishers Weekly, Jan. 20, 1992, various articles.]

Books for Whites

The sort of thing that good multi-racialists are supposed to read is advertised in a catalog called People of Every Stripe! (Box 12505, Portland, OR 97212, price: $3.00). The cover illustration of a white man, black woman, and what appears to be their child, sets the tone.

Children's books, which are written to fight not only racism, but every other conceivable –ism include Jesse's Dream Skirt, for ages two through eight. The catalog describes it this way:

Jesse (European American) dreams about a whirling, twirling, colorful skirt and his mother (a single parent) helps him to make one. When he proudly wears it to his multiracial daycare center, the other children ridicule him at first because "boys don't wear skirts." But Bruce, their teacher (African American), helps them to articulate why seeing a boy in a skirt makes them uncomfortable. They talk about styles of dressing all over the world and throughout time, and soon some of the children are happily play-dressing in their "dream skirts," robes, capes and other flowing garments of their own.

A perfect book for all parents who want their boys to wear skirts.

The catalog offers a number of works by someone named J. A. Rogers, including Africa's Gift to America. It is "a history of African people as Africa's gifts to the world and to America." Also on offer is Mr. Roger's The Five Negro Presidents, which presents evidence that five American Presidents had black ancestors. The same author has written 100 Amazing Facts about the Negro — we have no doubt that they are, indeed, amazing.

Several books claim to help adults find racially correct books for their children. One is called — with no apparent irony — Books Without Bias: Through Indian Eyes, and contains "sensitizing articles" and "resource lists" designed to cure us of anti-Indianism. A brochure called Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Sexism and Racism explains that "If a child can be shown how to detect racism and sexism in a book, the child can then proceed to transfer the perception to wider areas." One of the wider areas we are asked to consider is the color coding for electrical terminals. "Let's make black positive," says People of Every Stripe!

The catalog also offers hints on how to strip Christmas of its whiteness. It can be downplayed in favor of the winter solstice — "A time for cross cultural gatherings and appreciation of the myriad wonders of darkness." After all, "Darkness need not be scary, black need not be evil."

The ethnic image of Christmas itself can be softened with greeting cards of a black baby Jesus and even Santa Claus dolls of every race; People of Every Stripe! stocks a full range of racial dolls. They can be black, white, Asian, Hispanic, or indeterminate, and are offered in eleven different colors, from Seashell through Brown Egg to Finest Chocolate. Even more exotic are the handicapped dolls: cripples in wheelchairs, amputees on crutches, and blind people tethered to seeing-eye dogs. "Handicappism," is another affliction to be overcome.

People of Every Stripe! is relentlessly "sensitive"; it urges that the expression "kill two birds with one stone" be junked in favor of "feed two birds with one hand," and offers a T-shirt depicting a black hand showering seed on a black bird and a red bird. Likewise, it is clear from the people chosen to model the company's clothing that we are not to harbor prejudices against the homely.

Nevertheless, the great evil is always racism: "The germs of racism are all around us and in such plentiful supply that nobody escapes catching the disease. Some of us are sicker than others but we all need treatment." If you are looking for a cure, People of Every Stripe! has one: "Start a Recovering Racists Group in your area. Everyone you know is a candidate for membership. Lead by example!"