My diversity perspective, as an educator, is that all children should have access to books that have characters who are "just like them". I remember when an African American student in my 4th grade class saw my African American version of The Night Before Christmas. He was shocked that Santa, in that book, was black. He had only ever seen Santa portrayed as a fat white man. We should be introducing our students to as many diverse perspectives as possible before the cruel world that we live in can teach them to believe that one race or religion or culture is superior to others. I believe children are born loving and accepting everyone; it's not until society has had a chance to change them do we see discrimination and racism occur.
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