Marc Aronson, author of Slippery Slopes and Proliferating Prizes, questions the wisdom of the American Library Association's (ALA) sponsorship of a growing number of ethnically specific national literary awards, primarily the Coretta Scott King, the Pura Belpre, and the Asian American awards. Aronson acknowledges a lack of multicultural authors among the recipients of national literary awards such as the Newbery, the Caldecott, and the Printz awards, but he admonishes the reader that creating new awards merely masks the real problem. He states, "creating a new award is a concession that the other awards will never change" (p.6). Sadly, I believe there is a dangerous truth in his words.
Recently a colleague shared an interesting perspective on the trend to categorize graphic novels as a genre. She said that graphic novels encompass many genres. By turning the format of the novel into a genre, we effectively marginalize the graphic novel. Its placement as a genre naturally limits readership by reinforcing prejudices about who reads graphic novels. I believe there is a risk that these controversial awards may similarly reinforce prejudice and complacency regarding the value of multicultural literature In Responses to My Critics, Aronson acknowledges this phenomenon by stating "books on black experience are successfully marginalized" (p.20). Ethnicity-based literary awards give the illusion that great authors of color are already receiving the recognition they deserve.
Unfortunately, I think Aronson muddles his argument with an unnecessary attack on ethnicity-based awards. The real problem rests with traditional literary awards that are supposedly based on literary merit yet have consistently failed to recognize the amazing contributions of men and women of color. The onus to correct the situation lies with the dominant culture rather than minority cultures that have been historically oppressed. How can we ask these groups to open their awards to those outside of their cultures until we have truly done so ourselves? Traditional ALA sponsored awards have made little headway. Andrea Davis Pinkney, in her response to Aronson's article, writes "to my way of thinking, three Newberys (and a handful of Newbery honors) in seventy-nine years does not mark significant progress" (p.13). No, it doesn't mark progress. It is utterly shameful. Educators, librarians, publishers, and authors need to demand that our national literary awards reflect our multicultural society.
I am hopeful that, one day, the recipients of Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards will be an accurate reflection of the many cultures that compose America. Although I don't agree with everything Aronson suggested in these articles, I applaud him for boldly addressing this difficult issue. As a society, we can't hope to move beyond racism without respectful dialogue.
Reference:
Aronson, M. (2003). Beyond the Pale. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, MA.
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