British Asian authors are pushing for diverse characters to be included in childrens’ colouring books and other literature in an attempt to educate children about multi-culturalism and integration.
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) authors have been trying to incorporate characters from multi-ethnic and immigrant backgrounds in their illustrations. Such efforts are a conscious decision so that children grow up with a better understanding of racial structures and class systems that exist in society.
Authors like Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Konnie Huq and Zanib Milan have realised that most of the elementary literature is “white-washed” with barely any references to members from other countries and backgrounds.
Now, their books such as How to change the world, Cookie the Most Annoying Girl in the World and Planet Omar are hoping to change the narrative about ethnic minorities especially as the protests against the unfortunate murder of George Flyod continue to rock the UK.
But in this process writers of colour have pointed to several hindrances that they have to surpass in being commissioned.
The biggest struggle perhaps is that characters of colour are rarely accepted as the protagonist. Recent books sometimes still depict characters of colour as “sidekicks” who support and affirm the white main character. Other times, the “diversity” in a book appears in the background only.
Also publishing like any other industry is driven by a demand-supply market. If books aren’t selling, then publishers often attribute the need for “whiter characters” owing to a lack of audience. Therefore, many justify that they do not need to publish more books with characters of colour.
