I’ve been a fan of Gene Yang’s Reading Without Walls Challenge since he first initiated it. But I have to say my friend Roxanne Feldman’s recent post,”‘Read a book about a character that doesn’t look like me’ as viewed by an East Asian parent” was revelatory as it pointed out how what seems to be a great way to expand horizons for young readers can, in fact, be yet another narrowing form of privilege. It reminded me yet again that privilege comes in all shapes and sizes and we need to be aware and open to considering that. I urge all of you to read Roxanne’s post and share it if you feel it is important (as I do:).
Thanks for sharing that post. I teach in a school where the majority of students in my class are Asian, predominantly from India. Most of their parents work in high tech and they live a fairly affluent life. I shared the challenge with them but focused on the second half of the first statement, “or live like me” because most book characters already don’t look like them.
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