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erica_s 's review for:
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
by Carole Boston Weatherford
This seems to be the first book for children on this topic, and the two more about to be published this year are clearly for older readers - middle & high school, whereas this is for 2nd-4th grade.
There have been periods in the past when authors, illustrators, & publishers have thought that the public was ready to read books to their children about racism. And some small portion of the public was ready, but not enough to keep those books widely held at libraries and widely read in people's homes.
Have we turned a corner? Are people ready for it now?
Floyd Cooper's illustrations and Weatherford's text seem to be trying to make this painful history as gentle as possible; See the soothing repetition of the phrase "Once upon a time..." to introduce the growing financial success, creative flourishing, & community cohesion of the Black community in Tulsa, and the golden glowing colors like a sunlit benediction from the heavens.
When the incident happens in 1921 - a 19-year-old Black shoeshine man is accused by a 17-year-old white female elevator operator of assaulting her - the darkness fills the page and the stark white sky replaces the sweet blue from previous pages.
However, the massacre and the destruction of the entire neighborhood is NOT emphasized in the subsequent images - brown bodies as well as a few angry white ones are still glowing & golden, and what should have been burning buildings & broken bodies are simply not shown.
A lot of adults reading this aloud to children will probably be relieved that it emphasizes rebuilding & recovery. But in my opinion (as a white person), the faces of the white people who perpetrated this massacre are shown appearing patient, questioning, confused, & curious - not angry, not violent, not guilty, not sorry, not even fully present. If you only look at the images, it looks as if the Black people decided to leave Greenwood, which is not accurate & doesn't match the text of this book nor the history.
For example, when Weatherford's text says that 30 armed Black men were met by 2,000 armed white people, the image shows 3 men (1 Black & 2 white), looking as if they are having a tense but thoughtful discussion, not 1 person fighting for his life, outnumbered & surrounded.
The text over the next few pages is much more dramatic, violent, & descriptive than the illustrations, which focus on the Black people fleeing & then rebuilding, while the White people who committed atrocities are not shown. Then when it hits the climax - total destruction of the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Weatherford slips in another repetition of "Once upon a time..." as if to reassure readers that this was a long time ago.
NOTE: There is a discussion guide by Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul (https://lernerbooks.com/downloads/214/click) - the link is given in the backmatter of the book, which provides relevant analysis of CURRENT EVENTS as well as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. This is what seems to be missing from the picture book - which emphasizes the past - "once upon a time" as if it's all better now. I'm curious why this perspective/approach by Sonja Cherry-Paul is not featured more prominently by Weatherford & Cooper within the pages of the book.
The cover image is the only one that shows burning buildings and real fear on the faces of the Black people. It is so starkly left out of the inside that it would seem Weatherford & Cooper wanted to make sure people who picked up this violent story would be left with many more images of the time when the Black people of Tulsa flourished, thrived, & rebuilt.
I guess instead of criticizing this decision, I'd like to understand it...and I've made some guesses, but I don't really know.
There have been periods in the past when authors, illustrators, & publishers have thought that the public was ready to read books to their children about racism. And some small portion of the public was ready, but not enough to keep those books widely held at libraries and widely read in people's homes.
Have we turned a corner? Are people ready for it now?
Floyd Cooper's illustrations and Weatherford's text seem to be trying to make this painful history as gentle as possible; See the soothing repetition of the phrase "Once upon a time..." to introduce the growing financial success, creative flourishing, & community cohesion of the Black community in Tulsa, and the golden glowing colors like a sunlit benediction from the heavens.
When the incident happens in 1921 - a 19-year-old Black shoeshine man is accused by a 17-year-old white female elevator operator of assaulting her - the darkness fills the page and the stark white sky replaces the sweet blue from previous pages.
However, the massacre and the destruction of the entire neighborhood is NOT emphasized in the subsequent images - brown bodies as well as a few angry white ones are still glowing & golden, and what should have been burning buildings & broken bodies are simply not shown.
A lot of adults reading this aloud to children will probably be relieved that it emphasizes rebuilding & recovery. But in my opinion (as a white person), the faces of the white people who perpetrated this massacre are shown appearing patient, questioning, confused, & curious - not angry, not violent, not guilty, not sorry, not even fully present. If you only look at the images, it looks as if the Black people decided to leave Greenwood, which is not accurate & doesn't match the text of this book nor the history.
For example, when Weatherford's text says that 30 armed Black men were met by 2,000 armed white people, the image shows 3 men (1 Black & 2 white), looking as if they are having a tense but thoughtful discussion, not 1 person fighting for his life, outnumbered & surrounded.
The text over the next few pages is much more dramatic, violent, & descriptive than the illustrations, which focus on the Black people fleeing & then rebuilding, while the White people who committed atrocities are not shown. Then when it hits the climax - total destruction of the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Weatherford slips in another repetition of "Once upon a time..." as if to reassure readers that this was a long time ago.
NOTE: There is a discussion guide by Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul (https://lernerbooks.com/downloads/214/click) - the link is given in the backmatter of the book, which provides relevant analysis of CURRENT EVENTS as well as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. This is what seems to be missing from the picture book - which emphasizes the past - "once upon a time" as if it's all better now. I'm curious why this perspective/approach by Sonja Cherry-Paul is not featured more prominently by Weatherford & Cooper within the pages of the book.
The cover image is the only one that shows burning buildings and real fear on the faces of the Black people. It is so starkly left out of the inside that it would seem Weatherford & Cooper wanted to make sure people who picked up this violent story would be left with many more images of the time when the Black people of Tulsa flourished, thrived, & rebuilt.
I guess instead of criticizing this decision, I'd like to understand it...and I've made some guesses, but I don't really know.