"Amerasian" Children's Racial Identity Portrayed in Children's Picture Books

• In Event: 79.043 - Critical Early Childhood Policy and Practice Issues

Abstract

This study analyzed the body of children’s picturebooks on Amerasian Mixed-Heritage Children (MHC) focusing on their racial identity development. An Amerasian is defined as a person with one American and one Asian parent. A total of 19 sampled books were collected from the various sources, in order to understand how children’s picturebooks portrayed and illustrated Amerasian MHC. The analysis found (1) a lack of diversity of different racial/ethnicity mixtures among the sampled books, (2) issues relating to mixed-heritage protagonists’ racial/cultural identity and their cultures, and (3) important role of family members in helping protagonists’ dilemmas and confusion about their racial identity. This study has specific significance for researchers, teachers and parents, and authors and illustrators.

Authors

• Su-Jeong Wee, California State University - Los Angeles

• Sohyun Meacham, University of Northern Iowa