Do You Know Why The Caged Bird Sings?

One school in Maryland has assigned students 3 books to help them learn about the Civil Rights Movement and the attitudes and relationships between whites and blacks. These 3 books are I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, The Help, and The Secret Life of Bees. 2 of these books are written by white women, and can not accurately portray the opinions and emotions that were felt by black women during this time period. Only one, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, is a narrative written by a black women, and thus is the only that can be appropriate to be used to teach about the civil rights movement. I know, from my own personal experience, that my high school uses The Secret Life of Bees, to teach about the period, and I remember at the time thoroughly enjoying the book. But also, I thought that it was an accurate depiction of race relations and that is exactly why this is a problem. We already know that children in our school system fall prey to the ‘master narrative’ that is presented to them in our textbooks, so why would we exacerbate that problem even further by giving them novels to read that are also inaccurate?

Some argue that these books, while not the most accurate, are spurring an interest in history, and the period, among students that otherwise would not have cared. These novels are engaging and endearing-they draw the reader in with their happy endings. While they may encourage children in school to actually read them instead of turning to sparknotes, how likely is it really that they will then look elsewhere for more information? These stories, with their positive endings are not in anyway representative of what actually happened, so if we present them as the truth it is likely that is what will stick with these kids for the rest of their lives.

It is not as if other viable alternative do not exist. Why not restrict the reading to just Maya Angelou, or include Alice Walker in the list of options? Why is American history afraid of listening to black women’s voices?

What do you think? Is it ever okay to give these books to our children, and present them as accurate, if it may spur further interest in the period-or is it too much of an injustice?