A Lesson in Art -- and Racial Identity

Wow, Grace. Thanks for sharing so thoughtfully and vulnerably and encouraging this conversation.

Back when I taught 2nd grade, my favorite art lesson was based All the Colors of the Earth, a picture book by Sheila Hamanaka. (I got the lesson at a workshop by master teacher/artist/author Pat Barrett Dragan – here's a huge shout out to you!) In lyrical text and glowing illustrations, the author celebrates the "endless shades of you and me." Biracial children and kids of many different ethnicities find themselves reflected in the pages.

As a follow up to the book, we drew and painted self-portraits (to teach proportion), using many shades of instant coffee dissolved in water. Everyone found their skin tone or mixed it to match. It was cause for great celebration and energy in the classroom – as each noticed the beauty of their own particular skin color.

Totally fascinating. :D

I had a kind of similar experience when I was my sons 4th grade class Mom and did holiday crafts and food etc. We made hats of a different kind, sort of. I chose a professional pattern for a bonnet and a straw hat. Guess what? Some of the boys wanted the bonnets and some of the girls wanted the straw hat! JM

Sweet project!! Maybe I could do that at my daughters school...it is interesting to see how kids think of themselves...as the mom of kids who have different dads I'd be very interested in seeing their choices!! Closest I've seen is using crayons of different colors...

Very interesting! Surprising but almost not at the same time. Very good way to try to get the kids' opinions of who/what they think they are or how they feel bout themselves racially. Good experiment to see what colors they choose for themselves. I also like the comment that your son made at the end, personality!

I remember when I was in elementary school, I've done self portraits and drawings of myself also. I recall also using a crayon or colored pencil color that was darker than my fair skinned complexion. Thinking about it now, it was because I was self conscious of my skin color because I was one of the "palest" in my Asian side of the family and I wanted to be darker.

Do you think that project shows that children might already be aware and self conscious about the way they look based on what ethnicity they think they are?

Because I know I was at a very young age, but it seemed like there was only a few with that problem. Now there is becoming a lot more with that problem.

I think this is a great project! It might not bring consistent responses from children - each child has their own consciousness about their racial identity based on experience and development. Proposing the question and the opportunity is useful in itself. One of my greatest Mom treasures is a portrait my daughter did of her brother and her when she was about 8 years old. She is fair, blond and blue eyed with a significant port wine stain covering 1/2 of her forehead and one eye. Her brother is dark-skined african american. Her picture was spot on and they were walking hand in hand. Oh how I wish reality had been closer to that wonderful image in her imaginationE

This sounds like the most adorable group of kids! It's always interesting to me how my own kids depict themselves in self-portraits. Great piece!

Yikes.

I appreciate your experiment, Grace, because kids should be given these opportunities at a young age to gently grapple with questions of race and identity. I firmly believe that these kinds of thoughtful experiments will produce more secure and confident adults.

BUT, like Jan, I have some serious questions for you about the irony of conducting an experiment about race with children, and then treating the one black child in your class differently than the others!! Do you think your black student noticed that she was the only one not given a choice? I do! I think the biracial girl noticed, too, and quickly claimed her right to choose her own color of paper. She is learning that if you are considered "black" you are treated differently than others, with less agency to define yourself on your own terms.

It is particularly troubling because in the history of our country, African-Americans have been the ONLY group who have not been allowed to self-identify. Others have always claimed the right to name and label us. This scenario was repeated in your classroom. The experiment was empowering for the kids who were given ownership of their own identities. VERY disempowering for the ONE kid who wasn't.

It is very hard to think about our own prejudices, especially when we believe that we are moving the conversation forward - but let me tell you, some of these things are so ingrained that we must really work to make sure that as adults, we are not transmitting these ideas to the children. It is a lot of hard work.

Grace, have you fully examined your own ideas about people of African descent? I suspect that like many others, you may unconsciously see them as "more different" than other races. Is that why you looked at your black student and decided for her that she would be the only one who would have no choice but to use the brown paper?

Again, yikes.

All that said, I so appreciate your efforts. These issues need to be thought about and discussed more in the classroom. And I love your blog!!

Interesting experiment Grace. Brings back a memory from my own kindergarten years (a million years ago) from show and tell-- whenever somewhat bought in a doll, they would describe it as "skin-colored" or "peach"-- which always left me confused. Wasn't there also a Crayola color along those lines?

I am curious as to why you allowed every other child except the African-American girl to self-identify, and choose their own color of paper. Why was she the only one to whom you "handed" a brown paper, rather than allowing her to choose either shade? Maybe it's the way the story is worded, and she in fact chose the beige paper. But this story to me reflects attitudes in society which hold that everyone has the right to define their own identity -- except African-Americans!

Wow! I am so glad you did this because is certainly eye opening! I wish you could go further with this into an experiment because it's certainly worth it!

That is really interesting! And I, too, had a chance to see the same kind of drawings in an art class where I worked for a while, but in a middle school. I can remember white children tell me that they wished they had black people's thick, curly hair. And as a child, I can remember desperately wanting my hair straight and long and blond, just like my best friend had. She was half white and half Mexican, though you would have thought she was all white (she had lovely piercing blue eyes).

What has been going on?

~Virginia

Oh, I used to see this happen in my class all the time! But for some reason, almost *every* child of color chose the beige paint when we did self-portraits. What is going on, is right!...