‘Can I Touch Your Hair’
I sink down into my seat. Patty Jean’s answer is my answer. I learn when it comes to black and white, sometimes it’s best to press my lips closed and not say anything at all.”
-Charles Waters, Can I Touch Your Hair
When Irene and Charles are assigned to work on a poetry project together, neither are convinced that they can make it work. They don’t know each other and they are not sure they ever want to. Irene Latham is white and Charles Waters is black. Irene is a shy student, while Charles can talk someone’s ear off. This is supposed to be a poetry assignment where the students pick the topics to write about. However, Irene and Charles’ poems only reflect the differences of their lives. Irene and Charles have noticed that their hair, shoes, school, church, and family dinners are very different. As time goes on, they come to see that they have more in common than they thought.
Authors Irene Latham and Charles Waters use a fictional setup to delve into different experiences of race in a relatable way, exploring ideas of hair, hobbies, family dinners, and church. When it comes to race in America, the less that is said, the better. Many people are particularly attached to the notion that if you don’t bring up race, you will be a unprejudiced individual, incapable of racist thoughts or actions. However, as teachers, we know that children are capable of seeing differences. As teachers, if we don’t offer guidance in any sort of way to students, they you’re allowing the world to do the teaching for you.
Irene Latham and Charles Waters made this story believable by choosing to write the characters after themselves. I think that it is interesting that they decided to name the kids in the books after themselves. I think that as writers, it gave them a connection to the material they couldn’t have had otherwise. In this story, neither character is marginalized or privileged throughout the whole text. However, there are times in the text that either Irene or Charles are the marginalized group while the other is privileged. For example, when Irene is at the beach, she feels marginalized because of her “sugar-sand white” skin. When Charles is picked first in gym class for being lanky and having darker skin, he was a “privileged” player.
If all a student hears and sees in the world around them are racist actions and words, what are we doing as teachers to prevent this teaching? Can I Touch Your Hair can be used as a conversation starter for race in the classroom. Students can learn from Charles and Irene’s ability to learn from one another. “Sometimes we say the wrong thing, sometimes we misunderstand. Now we listen, we ask questions.” Both Irene and Charles had the choice to make the world better. This choice was as simple as asking questions. This was instead of misunderstanding or assuming. This book is used to ignite conversations about race and identity.
One of my favorite parts of Can I Touch Your Hair is from the illustrations on the pages. I think that the illustrators, Sean Qualls and Selina Alko did a beautiful job mixing together materials of acrylic paint, colored pencils and collage. In a way, I think that this is symbolic. I think that the words and pictures mixed together on the page are like mixing together our cultures.
The reason why I chose to include a different video version of ‘Can I Touch Your Hair‘ is so that non-African American’s can get a perspective of what its like when you are the one to get asked that question. Something we might think as being appropriate and okay to ask, is frustrating and demeaning to African Americans.
‘Separate is Never Equal’
Cuando la causa es justa, los demás te siguen. When you fight for justice, others will follow.”
-Duncan Tonatiuh, Separate is Never Equal
Sylvia Mendez and her brothers, all American citizens of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke perfect English, were denied admittance to Westminster schools, and instead sent to the inferior Mexican school because “that is how it is done.”
Faced with inferiority, the Mendez family decides to fight back. They are inspired to integrate public schools. Sylvia’s father followed the chain of command to the Orange County School board in California. At every chance that he talked to a member of the school board, he was turned down without satisfactory reason for this inequity. Unsatisfied with this judgement, he filed a lawsuit against the school board. Mr. Kent, the superintendent, was asked his reasoning that he sent children to the Mexican school. His statements and reasoning were degrading.
The need to learn cleanliness of mind, manner, and dress. They are not learning at home. They have problems with lice, impetigo, and tuberculosis. They have generally dirty hands, face, neck and ears.”
-Mr Kent
Author Duncan Tonatiuh brings to light a true case about school desegregation in California. The court case, Mendez v. Westminster School District paved the way for desegregation of schools in America and was used in the more well known case, Brown V. Board of Education. Tonatiuh took books from multiple sources, court transcripts, films, books, websites, articles and reports and created a picture book. He transferred all accurate information into something appropriate and interesting for young readers.
I think that this book is especially important to have in the classroom library because we need to stress to our students that when we talk about “integration”, it is not always African American students in the 1950s. Segregation includes all races. On page 32 of Separate is Never Equal, the Mendez family receives support from the NAACP, Japanese American Citizens League, and the American Jewish Congress among others. At this point in the book, I would have students stop and understand that when you take a stand for what you believe, others will follow.
Segregation of children creates feelings of superiority in one group and inferiority in another. We need to be able to interact and mingle so that prejudices break down, so that we can learn from one another, and so that everyone has a fair shot at success.”
As a future teacher, I am going to take this quote and hold it close. In my future classroom library, I will be sure to not whitewash the books. Whitewashing doesn’t allow for children to grow and learn. Even in a diverse community, there needs to be culturally diverse representation in the bookshelves. This is so the community does not fall for the one story of the race.
When I did research on Tonatiuh’s art, I think that it is important to understand why he’s chosen the style that he has. In interviews, Tonatiuh says that his art in heavily influenced by ancient Mexican styles. “My artwork is much inspired by Pre-Columbian art, especially by Mixtec codices from the 14th century. That is why my art is very geometric, my characters are always in profile, and their ears look like a number three. My intention is to celebrate that ancient art and keep it alive.” Just as the Mendez family kept the desegregation of schools alive, Tonatiuh is symbolically doing that with his art.
