insider/outsider debate

After reading all of the articles on multiculturalism, I really believe that in order to write a compelling, intimate story about an ethnic group, race, traditions, morals, etc., you need to be an insider while writing. I believe this because if you are part of the group that you are writing a story about, you know what life is like, what traditions the group possesses, how they live, etc. I think those who are insiders while writing a book about a specific group, whether it be about race, morals, values, traditions, etc, they will have the most compelling stories. The story will be more intimate and touch the audience a little more than an outsider story would. Now, I'm not saying that outsiders should not be able to write stories of other groups besides theirs. I believe that seeing a different perspective on another group, depending on the story line, could also be very interesting. I don't believe those books to be authentic, though, because of the insider/outsider issue. Some questions I have on the insider/outsider issue is, what actually makes a book authentic? I believe the whole issue of the insider/outsider issue to be extremely interesting because it helps me to know how to chose books for my future library.

about me

I am in my fifth year of college completing my bachelors in elementary education. I am hoping to teach in the lower elementary classrooms and love being with children. I hope to have the chance to make a difference in a child's life and be a role model for all children. I am interested in diverse literature because I believe that diversity is not taught as much as it should be. I think that children should be exposed to books that include all backgrounds, traditions, morals, values, differences, and ethnicities because issues surrounding diversity and differences should be raised and questioned. I hope to learn a great deal about what having a diverse library truly means and what we should consider in picking out books that would contribute to a diverse library for our classrooms. I hope to explore and learn how to raise questions and answers questions for children of all ages when they ask. I hope to learn ways to teach diversity through books and other types of literature in my future classroom.