{"id":360479,"date":"2026-07-31T17:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/able-to-participate-disability-and-race-in-british-childrens-books\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:25:11","slug":"able-to-participate-disability-and-race-in-british-childrens-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=360479","title":{"rendered":"Able to Participate: Disability and Race in British Children\u2019s Books"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>This fall, when I participated in a daylong symposium at Amnesty International UK on children\u2019s books and human rights, the author Alex Wheatle spoke about how he pitched a book to a children\u2019s publisher about a Black British boy growing up in a care home; the publisher worried that there were too many issues to the book.\u00a0 In other words, a kid can\u2019t be in a care home AND Black AND in a children\u2019s book.\u00a0 Being Black, for many children\u2019s publishers (even now) is \u201cproblem\u201d enough.\u00a0 The idea that not being white is a problem in British society is also likely to be one of the reasons that the CLPE Reflecting Realities report found that only one of the books with BAME representation could be classified as a \u201ccomedy\u201d; if you are a problem, you, and your life, can\u2019t be funny.\u00a0 For years, it was seen as a generous, liberal white attitude to suggest\u2014as one character does in Josephine Kamm\u2019s 1962 <em>Out of Step<\/em>\u2014that \u201cthere\u2019s nothing wrong in being a West Indian or an African or an Indian.\u00a0 They\u2019re every bit as good as we are; they look different, that\u2019s all there is to it\u201d (20).\u00a0 To argue that \u201cthere\u2019s nothing wrong\u201d with being yourself suggests that someone else thinks that there is.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bookimage\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/childrensbookshop.com\/images\/bookimages\/60\/60141.jpg\" alt=\"Out of Step\"\/><\/p>\n<p>And yet\u2014as the Amnesty symposium emphasized\u2014children have the right to be represented in all aspects of society, including children\u2019s books.\u00a0 And that means all children, including those who are experiencing either a temporary or permanent disability.\u00a0 The UN\u2019s Declaration of the Rights of the Child has, as its fifth point, \u201cThe child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the special treatment, education and care required by his particular condition\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/malaysia\/1959-Declaration-of-the-Rights-of-the-Child.pdf\">https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/malaysia\/1959-Declaration-of-the-Rights-of-the-Child.pdf<\/a>). Special education and care should not mean isolating the child and making them feel \u201cothered\u201d, but helping them find ways to participate in society.\u00a0 British children\u2019s literature has made great strides in the last few years in depicting disabilities in a broad spectrum of books, including the 2016 Carnegie Medal winner, <em>One<\/em>, by Sarah Crossan about conjoined twins.\u00a0 But it is unusual to find a main character of colour in a British children\u2019s book who is also disabled\u2014too many \u201cproblems\u201d for one book!<\/p>\n<p>The issue is not just academic, or a fictional scenario.\u00a0 Amelia Hill, writing for the <em>Guardian<\/em>, highlights the case of two disabled children that the Home Office is trying to deport to Pakistan despite the children being born in the UK (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2018\/dec\/12\/home-office-disabled-children-leave-country\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2018\/dec\/12\/home-office-disabled-children-leave-country<\/a>). Disabled children often suffer discrimination; disabled children of colour can experience a double discrimination due to racist attitudes that a person\u2019s \u201crace\u201d is a problem.\u00a0 And being a person of colour doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you are more sensitive to the \u201cproblem\u201d of disability\u2013most people need to learn to look for ability and strength in disabled people rather than othering them.<\/p>\n<div data-shortcode=\"caption\" id=\"attachment_2113\" style=\"width: 859px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2113\" data-attachment-id=\"2113\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/2018\/12\/13\/able-to-participate-disability-and-race-in-british-childrens-books\/sita-tender-earth\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"849,512\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"sita-tender-earth\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Brahmachari\u2019s main character, Laila, thinks she understands her best friend Kez\u2013but sometimes all she see is her disability and the way it interrupts their friendship.&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg?w=849\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2113\" src=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg?w=960\" alt=\"sita-tender-earth\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg 849w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg?w=150&amp;h=90 150w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg?w=300&amp;h=181 300w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/sita-tender-earth.jpg?w=768&amp;h=463 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brahmachari\u2019s main character, Laila, thinks she understands her best friend Kez\u2013but sometimes all she see is her disability and the way it interrupts their friendship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It is therefore encouraging to see more books being published that include disabled (temporarily or permanently) characters in books with or by people of colour.\u00a0 The disabled characters are not just window dressing, but play major roles in the books.\u00a0 Sita Brahmachari\u2019s character Kez, in <em>Tender Earth<\/em> (Macmillan 2017) is Laila Levenson\u2019s best friend, but that friendship is tested because of Kez\u2019s disability.\u00a0 She is in a wheelchair, and although she and Laila have been friends since primary school, Kez decides she won\u2019t come over to Laila\u2019s house any more when they start secondary school after Laila\u2019s father carries her down the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cI <em>never<\/em> want to be carried\u201d (58), Kez tells Laila.\u00a0 Laila thinks of herself as being the only one who understands Kez, but has to learn to see her in new and capable ways, and also learn how to make accommodations for her friend without patronizing her, before they can be close again.\u00a0 Kez is white British, but makes up part of Brahmachari\u2019s multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-able cast of characters, because as she herself puts it, \u201cThese \u2018different\u2019 characters populate my books because I know that they\u2019re all \u2018here!\u2019 and more than anything I love to give each of them their \u201crites of passage\u201d moment when they find a voice\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/childrens-books-site\/2014\/oct\/15\/sita-brahmachari-diverse-characters-diverse-names\">https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/childrens-books-site\/2014\/oct\/15\/sita-brahmachari-diverse-characters-diverse-names<\/a>).<\/p>\n<div data-shortcode=\"caption\" id=\"attachment_2114\" style=\"width: 272px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2114\" data-attachment-id=\"2114\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/2018\/12\/13\/able-to-participate-disability-and-race-in-british-childrens-books\/attachment\/9781781128329\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/9781781128329.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"262,400\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"9781781128329\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Depression is a disability that affects all kinds of people\u2013but it\u2019s not always a result of racism for people of colour.&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/9781781128329.jpg?w=262\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2114\" src=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/9781781128329.jpg?w=960\" alt=\"9781781128329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/9781781128329.jpg 262w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/9781781128329.jpg?w=98&amp;h=150 98w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2114\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Depression is a disability that affects all kinds of people\u2013but it\u2019s not always a result of racism for people of colour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bali Rai\u2019s <em>Stay a Little Longer<\/em> (Barrington Stoke 2018) deals with a different kind of disability, the emotional and mental disability of depression.\u00a0 Rai distinguishes between forms and levels of severity of depression in his novel. Aman, the main character, is thirteen and grieving the death of her father. Although she considers herself \u201cmessed up\u201d (69) for still grieving after a year, her friend Lola points out that \u201cIt\u2019s not a competition to see who recovers the fastest\u201d (69).\u00a0 Aman\u2019s grief affects her every day, but it is clear that she will return to her old self, more or less, eventually.\u00a0 However, an older man that Aman meets, Gurnam, has a more serious form of depression that leads him to attempt suicide.\u00a0 Aman, who has friends and family supporting her through her grief, wants to be supportive to Gurnam as well, but she has to learn to go about it in the right way. \u00a0She learns that love helps, but love alone is not enough; disabilities, even when they are not physical, require medical treatment.\u00a0 Race plays an interesting role in Rai\u2019s book; Gurnam is harassed by some local boys, but Aman cannot understand why because \u201cThe lads are Asian, just like Gurnam\u201d (90).\u00a0 She assumes that racism is the only reason a man would be harassed in Britain.\u00a0 However, it turns out that racism has nothing to do with it.\u00a0 Gurnam is gay, and the boys think that homosexuality is \u201cAgainst nature\u201d (58).\u00a0 Rai\u2019s book highlights the way that being \u201cothered\u201d can lead to disabling depression, but in doing so he also reminds readers that race is only one piece of a person\u2019s identity\u2014and not always the \u201cproblem.\u201d<\/p>\n<div data-shortcode=\"caption\" id=\"attachment_2115\" style=\"width: 1581px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2115\" data-attachment-id=\"2115\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/2018\/12\/13\/able-to-participate-disability-and-race-in-british-childrens-books\/welcome-to-nowhere\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1571,2398\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Welcome-to-Nowhere\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Disability doesn\u2019t mean un-ability; Laird\u2019s character Musa has strengths his brother Omar wishes he had.&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=671\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2115\" src=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=960\" alt=\"Welcome-to-Nowhere\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg 1571w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=98&amp;h=150 98w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=197&amp;h=300 197w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=768&amp;h=1172 768w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=671&amp;h=1024 671w, https:\/\/theracetoread.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Welcome-to-Nowhere.jpg?w=1440&amp;h=2198 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1571px) 100vw, 1571px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Disability doesn\u2019t mean un-ability; Laird\u2019s character Musa has strengths his brother Omar wishes he had.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Elizabeth Laird\u2019s <em>Welcome to Nowhere<\/em> might reasonably be expected to deal with a similar emotional disability, as the novel concerns a Syrian family who become refugees in Jordan before eventually being given asylum in Britain.\u00a0 Refugees and migrants have formed an ever-increasing part of children\u2019s literature over the past decade, but generally the stories have concerned able-bodied characters; again, the idea that being a refugee is enough of a \u201cproblem\u201d for a single book applies.\u00a0 But Laird includes two disabled characters who play pivotal roles in the story: the main character Omar\u2019s older brother, Musa, who has cerebral palsy, and their younger sister Nadia, who has a heart condition.\u00a0 Musa\u2019s cerebral palsy affects the plot\u2014his movement is restricted, and at times Omar has to carry him.\u00a0 But he is also a \u201ctotal brainbox\u201d (15) who gets involved in the rebellion and has to be saved from being shot by Omar.\u00a0 Musa uses his disability to his advantage when soldiers approach them, \u201cmaking babbling noises\u201d (57) and flailing his arms \u201cwildly\u201d (57) to make the soldiers think he is harmless.\u00a0 His condition and Nadia\u2019s heart problems put them on top of the list for asylum in Britain.\u00a0 It is only at the end of the novel that race\/ethnicity come into play, however.\u00a0 Musa does not want to leave for Britain, arguing, \u201cYou know what the British say about Arabs and Muslims?\u00a0 They think we\u2019re all crazy terrorists\u201d (315).\u00a0 Laird concludes her story with questions that acknowledge that attitudes toward \u201cothers\u201d are still a \u201cproblem\u201d : \u201cIf you have read to the end of the story you might be wondering what will happen next . . . How will they get on in their new life in Britain?\u00a0 Will people welcome them? . . . Will they be helped to settle in and follow their dreams?\u00a0 The answer to those questions lies with you\u201d (334).\u00a0 At the end of the day, it is up to all of us to ensure that every person is able to participate in society, and stop closing doors because of what we perceive as their \u201cotherness\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"wordads-inline-marker\" style=\"display: none;\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This fall, when I participated in a daylong symposium at Amnesty International UK on children\u2019s books and human rights, the author Alex Wheatle spoke about how he pitched a book to a children\u2019s publisher about a Black British boy growing up in a care home; the publisher worried that there were too many issues to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":360480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181799,181800,181801,99019,12148,12154,181802,181803,181804,101812,121612,181805,181806,106256,181807],"tags":[1752,1840,352,17156,25033,8785],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-360479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amnesty-international","category-bali-rai","category-british-asians","category-childrens-literature","category-depression","category-disability","category-elizabeth-laird","category-homosexuality","category-josephine-kamm","category-racism","category-refugees","category-sarah-crossan","category-sita-brahmachari","category-terrorism","category-un-declaration-of-the-rights-of-the-child","tag-books","tag-british","tag-childrens","tag-disability","tag-participate","tag-race"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - 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