Anti-Racist Resources

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Although many individuals argue that the way to improve race relations is to teach our children to be more aware of racial discrimination and be more open and accepting of difference, many parents choose to delay or avoid conversations about race with their children. Each year the students in Dr. Eisen’s Critical Race Theory course carefully and intentionally create children’s books that can stimulate a conversation about race with children. Critical race scholarship not only informs the storyline, but also deeply shapes the production of the books, as students consistently reflect upon their work throughout the production process to ensure that racial myths and stereotypes are not being perpetuated. It is not expected that this collection of books will solve race relations problems, but it is the intention that the books in this collection will help start the conversation about race and race relations to work towards a more just and equitable society.

The adventures of a little boy in the city on a very snowy day.

Otsaliheliga is a Cherokee word that is used to express gratitude. Journey through the year with a Cherokee family and their tribal nation as they express thanks for celebrations big and small. This book presents a look at modern Native American life as told by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

Today will be special. Today will be splendid. Today is Saturday! This is the day Ava and her mother cherish. Saturday means: storytime, salon time, picnic time, and this week...The Best Puppet Show Ever! But what happens when life doesn't exactly deliver on its promise? Join a mother and daughter on an up-and-down journey that reminds them of what's best about Saturdays: precious time together.

A biography of Cesar Chavez, from age ten when he and his family lived happily on their Arizona ranch, to age thirty-eight when he led a peaceful protest against California migrant workers' miserable working conditions.

When five-year-old Sulwe's classmates make fun of her dark skin, she tries lightening herself to no avail, but a shooting star's tale of the sisters Night and Day helps her understand there is beauty and worth in every shade.

Award-winning poet, writer, and activist Nikki Giovanni's evocative text combines with Bryan Collier's striking cut-paper images to retell the story of this historic event from a wholly unique and original perspective.

Mufaro's two beautiful daughters, one bad-tempered, one kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife.

Biography of Emma Tenayuca, who, in 1938, led 12,000 poor Mexican-American workers in a strike for better wages and living conditions.

Other students laugh when Rigoberto, an immigrant from Venezuela, introduces himself but later, he meets Angelina and discovers that he is not the only one who feels like an outsider.

Describes Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her north to freedom on that very first trip to escape the brutal practice of forced servitude. Tubman would make nineteen subsequent trips back south, never being caught, but none as profound as this first one.

The Newbery Award-winning author of The Crossover pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree.

Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a "Whites only" school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.

A picture book based on a true story about a young First Nations girl who was sent to a residential school.

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

"Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade." -From publisher.

Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson's interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats.

Thirteen-year-old Genesis tries again and again to lighten her black skin, thinking it is the root of her family's troubles, before discovering reasons to love herself as is.

The lives these 10 women led are part of an incredible story about courage in the face of oppression, about the challenges and triumphs of the battle for civil rights, and about speaking out for what you believe in-- even when it feels like no one is listening.

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team -- a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together.

Novel in verse. In this heartfelt novel, basketball and brotherhood intertwine to show Josh and Jordan that life doesn't come with a playbook and, sometimes, it's not about winning.

Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the private school where she feels like an outsider, but where she has plenty of opportunities. But some opportunities she doesn't really welcome, like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls.

This graphic novel is Congressman John Lewis' first-hand account of his lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation.

"Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture." -From publisher.

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship -- the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

Two best friends, a writer and a runner, deal with bullies, family issues, social pressures, and their quest for success.

"Rashad and Quinn -- one black, one white, both American -- face the unspeakable truth that racism and prejudice didn't die after the civil rights movement. There's a future at stake, a future where no one else will have to be absent because of police brutality. They just have to risk everything to change the world. Cuz that's how it can end." -From publisher.

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer." -From publisher.

While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.

"Trinidad. Audre is being sent to live in America with her father because her strictly religious mother caught her with her secret girlfriend, the pastor's daughter. Her grandmother Queenie tries to reassure her granddaughter that she won't lose her roots. Minneapolis. Mabel is trying to figure out why she feels the way she feels-- about her ex Terrell, about her girl Jada and that moment they had in the woods. When Audre and her father come for dinner, Mabel falls hard for Audre and is determined to take care of her as she tries to navigate an American high school. But when test results reveal why Mabel has been feeling low-key sick all summer, it's Audre who is caring for Mabel as they face a deeply uncertain future." -From publisher.

Also available at Eugene and Woodburn campuses.
"A sassy entropy sweeper, a documentary about wedgies, a principal who wears a Venetian bauta mask, and platefuls of Cuban food are just some of the delights that await in this mind-blowing novel gift-wrapped in love and laughter." -From publisher.

"Twelve-year-old Quijana is a biracial girl, desperately trying to understand the changes that are going on in her life; her mother rarely gets home before bedtime, her father suddenly seems to be trying to get in touch with his Guatemalan roots (even though he never bothered to teach Quijana Spanish), she is about to start seventh grade in the Texas town where they live and she is worried about fitting in--and Quijana suspects that her parents are keeping secrets, because she is sure there is something wrong with her little brother, Memito, who is becoming increasingly hard to reach." -From publisher.

Also available at Woodburn campus.
"In 1957, ten-year-old Regina Petit's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and forced to leave Oregon, but in Los Angeles her family faces prejudice and she struggles to understand her identity as an Indian far from tribal lands. Includes historical photographs and notes." -From summary.

Also available at Woodburn and Eugene campuses.
"Faizah relates how she feels on the first day her sister, sixth-grader Asiya, wears a hijab to school.
The first day of wearing hijab is important. It means being stron. With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It's the start of a brand-new year, and best of all, it's her older sister Asiya's first day of hijab - made of a fabric of beautiful blue, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of hurtful, confusing words, Faizah will find new ways to be strong." -From publisher.

Also available at Woodburn campus.
"As a refugee from Sudan to the United States, Sangoel is frustrated that no one can pronounce his name correctly until he finds a clever way to solve the problem." -From summary.

Also available at Woodburn campus.
"While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he's seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes -- and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself?" -From publisher.

Also available at Woodburn and Eugene campuses.
"As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too -- the Civil War. Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa's music bring comfort to those who needed it most?" -From publisher.

Also available at Woodburn and Eugene campuses.
"Carlitos lives in a happy home with his mother, his abuela, and Coco the cat. Life in his hometown is cozy as can be, but the call of the capital city pulls Carlitos across the bay in search of his father."

"An illustrated, joyful celebration of African-American boys' hairstyles." -From publisher.

"A little girl's daddy steps in to help her arrange her curly, coiling, wild hair into styles that allow her to be her natural, beautiful self." -From publisher.

"When a boy's abuela accuses him of being careless with his beloved Bongo, he devises a trap and catches the toy thief red-handed." -From publisher.

" Before they were activists, they were just ordinary people like us. These profiles of remarkable figures show us what it means to take a stand and say no to injustice." -From publisher.

"A history of racist and antiracist ideas in America, from their roots in Europe until today, adapted from the National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning." -From publisher.

"This book is written for the young person who doesn't know how to speak up to the racist adults in their life. This book will give them the language and ability to understand racism and a drive to undo it. In short, it is for everyone." -From publisher.

"Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this picture book that proves you're never too little to make a difference." -From publisher.