It’s Time to Diversify America’s Educational Literary Curriculum

For many of us, our high school English class was filled with classic authors such as Fitzgerald or Hemmingway. Many of us are familiar with the tale of a young rich man who is hopelessly in love with his neighbor's cousin. Novels such as The Great Gatsby defined our high school educations and continue to be a staple in America’s literary curriculum. Despite the benefits of teaching these classic novels, many students cannot relate to many of the characters due to a lack of diversity within the novel’s pages. For most students, learning books with characters similar in appearance and cultural background can help them better connect with the curriculum, and maybe even motivate them to read more. 

Goodreads has an ongoing list of many of the most commonly required high school reading books, and many other literary websites have the exact same titles. Eleven out of the fifty books on this list were written by women and only four out of the fifty authors were people of color. 

The benefits of diversifying America’s literary curriculum appear to be abundant. As a young woman, I recognize how important it is to be represented within an English curriculum. Recently for in an in-class essay, I received a prompt that asked me whether or not America’s literary curriculum should be diversified with more female authors. I argued that yes, more female authors should be included on this required high school reading books list. That said, I also felt that this diversification should stem further to people of color, not only women. 

Considering that fifty-seven percent of high school students are women and forty-eight percent of high school students are non-white, it makes sense to teach and learn books that appeal to this demographic. Though I cannot speak for students of color, I personally know I would feel more represented as a woman if the books I grew up with in high school were written by authors that looked like me. I would feel more motivated to read books that I knew were written by an author who I could relate to. 

I also feel that when students read these classic books that are strictly written by white, straight, and male authors, they are only exposed to a very one-sided and binary viewpoint. Many times, some of the discussions that surround these books center around how the world around the main character impacts them. However, it is difficult to make interpretations of the world around the character if his only view is that of privilege. 

Take The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway for example. This beloved book is written from the perspective of a white man who is in love with a woman who will not commit to him because he cannot have sex. When you have a story painted in this manner, it is almost instinctual for the reader to blame the woman for not wanting to commit to the main character, when in reality, we never get the story from the woman’s perspective. Though part of the curriculum with teaching these books comes with teaching the protagonist as an unreliable narrator, the books should also be taught with a full perspective on each character that ultimately impacts the main character. 

One of the most impactful books that I have read that I believe should be added to this master list of required reading school books is Sula by Toni Morrison. The novel explores themes from a third-person point of view about the difference between good and evil and how sometimes the two can become intertwined. It explores the female psyche while reflecting upon the gentrification of a black-populated city in Ohio. These themes are seldom explored in school literature and deserve more representation. 

In addition to having diverse authors, I also believe that students should see representation across sexualities in literature. Many, if not all, of the stories, focus on straight relationships and seldom offer a glimpse into LGBTQ+ relationships. I believe that if books include characters with these sexualities, they can help de-stigmatize discussions of sexuality and gender within a classroom setting. 

I believe that Jill Anderson, writing for Harvard’s Graduate School of Education perfectly puts emphasis on why kids in school should grow up with a diverse group of books surrounding them. She writes that “considering that the American student population is now 50% nonwhite, the need for that mirror — for opportunities for children to see themselves and navigate a more diverse world — seems more pressing...children notice the lack of representation surrounding them.”