Multicultural texts are the types of narratives that seek to give a voice to the voiceless within diverse communities and hence revolve around some of the minority groups, for instance, the African Americans, Asian Americans, physically challenged individuals, or people from different sexual orientations (Tarpley, 2018). They seek to highlight the plight of these groups in the struggle to survive and thrive within the greater diverse culture. Many forms of this type of literature exist today and try to teach students how to survive as a multicultural society. Some of the goals of teaching multicultural studies in schools include achieving cultural pluralism, attainment of educational equity, the ability for students to interact and work together, and the feeling of self-worth among students (Tarpley, 2018). Such literature helps to improve the overall culture of the class environment and allows students to connect with their learning in a deep sense. The theme of multiculturalism is evident in Cozbi Cabrera's text, "My Hair is a Garden." The protagonist in the story, Mackenzie, is bullied by her school mates for her long black hair. She seeks solace from her neighbor Miss Tillie who shows her the beauty of her dark, curly, and kinky African hair and illustrates to her how to take care of her hair using the example of a beautiful flower garden (Cabrera, 2018). Kids’ books about hair draw a lot of attention and criticism because the hair is a sensitive element that speaks the story about racism, discrimination, and all manner of social stratification that has been definitive of the human race. Moreover, it has, for the longest time, been a defining factor in relations between the African Americans and white Americans, along with skin color and religion (Cabrera, 2018). Naturally, therefore, the author would choose to use this element to describe the plight of the marginalized group that is African Americans.
The story of Mackenzie and Tillie is a realistic fiction tale that seeks to demystify the racism and discrimination based on the texture and appearance of the hair. The story takes the form of a short story narrative in which the protagonist confronts her fear of being ridiculed and of her name being tainted because of the appearance of her hair (Cabrera, 2018). She runs to Ms. Tillie, her neighbor, who uses her flower garden to show her how to take care of her hair. Ms. Tillie reassures her that her hair is beautiful as opposed to the general feeling of the society in her school. Unlike non-fiction tales, this narrative contains events and tales not necessarily connected to reality (Cabrera, 2018). Additionally, the main character in the story confronts internal conflict, which makes her realize that her hair had been beautiful all along, regardless of what the people said.
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The story adopts a simple form in which the protagonist faces a challenge with her hair and chooses to confront it by approaching and older and experienced woman for advice. After their encounter at the garden, she realizes that her hair is healthy and beautiful and basically perfect in just the way it is (Cabrera, 2018). The story is set in a diverse culture of races in which Africa Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and White Americans interact and live together. Mackenzie is taunted by her classmates the entire day while at school, and this was for what they call an unruly hair. She decides enough is enough and goes on to seek advice from her neighbor Tillie. The primary characters in this narrative are Mackenzie and her neighbor, as well as her classmates who are not identified in this story (Cabrera, 2018). The story is more of an internal conflict within the mind of the protagonist more than it is an external conflict clearly visible to the reader. Ms. Tillie cultivates the feeling of pride and appreciation of her curly African hair.
"My Hair is a Garden" uses literary devices to explain various thematic elements that touch on race and culture. To begin with, the very decision to describe the hair as the primary element of conflict works to add metaphorical value to the narrative. The nose is personified as a garden that Mackenzie is supposed to take care of. At one point, the protagonist sits in the garden of Ms. Tillie, pulling out weeds. The weeds adopt particular descriptions and phrases that can be likened to the hair on her head. The author describes some weeds as "too curly" and yet speaks about "pull it out" and "straighten it," and so forth (Cabrera, 2018). The narrator takes to heart the attitude of Ms. Tillie in the sense that the book is not created to offer sympathy to the reader, but it offers solutions and advice. In personifying the issue of race within the pre-text of hair texture and color, the book seeks to fill a gap that should never have occurred. The book not only achieves these stylistics by narration, but it also achieves the same purpose via the colorful illustrations.
This book is significant in teaching about racism, multiculturalism, and inclusion of the minority groups into the broad cultural context and overall discourse concerning issues of race social stratification. Not only does the narrative use a simple and intuitive format for people to understand, but it also incorporates a simple component, the hair, as a significant source of conflict with which any average k-6 classroom can relate (Karasika & Pomortseva, 2015). When she was young, Mackenzie would run for Ms. Tillie's house whenever she was scorned and ridiculed about the texture of her hair. However, on growing up, she still goes to see Ms. Tillie even though not for the same reasons anymore (Karasika & Pomortseva, 2015). Therefore, the compilation of the book is a confirmation that positive socialization is a reality and that people can be taught to love and appreciate diversity even when they come from a place where they feel discriminated against.
Different response activities can be used in teaching students how to appreciate diversity and interact with other students from a diverse culture. For example, students can be placed in pairs to helps them come up with hypothetical situations they have ever encountered or that they are likely to encounter and formulate solutions. Additionally, they can also research journal articles that have been compiled and that deal with the issue of diversity and the benefits of multiculturalism in schools. This will widen their perspectives about the subject and will help them think broadly about the matter. Overall, the narrative “My Hair is a Garden” endeavors to instill in readers the overall sense of the appreciation of culture and intends to correct a wrong that has been maintained all through world cultures for a long time in the history of the world. The various elements of culture underpin aspects like disability, race, gender, and academic performance, methods of conflict resolution, socioeconomic status, religion, and language, all of which make people different. As opposed to viewing differences as a weakness, the author chooses to celebrate it and make it the point of interest in the novel. Students are born from different types of households, and these can have a significant bearing on their beliefs about life and how they digest the information they receive in school. Various races and ethnicities have unique ideas about how to learn and how to relate to members of other races. Therefore, many factors influence how students learn and how they believe in the things they are taught in school.
References
Cabrera, C. (2018). My Hair is a Garden. New York: Albert Whitman. Karasika, O., & Pomortseva, N. (2015). Multicultural Challenges: Teaching Contemporary American Literature for Russian Philological Students. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 199(3), 684-688. Tarpley, N. (2018). Why Do Kids’ Books About Black Hair Draw So Much Attention — and Controversy? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/books/review/i-love-my-black-hair-natasha-tarpley.html
