White authors are represented in school curricula nearly seven times more than Black authors, according to a new report from the Education Trust. Of the 300 books in the sample, 77% featured at least one white author or illustrator.
The report, released in September, analyzed representation in widely used grade school books.
“I still am gripped with the imbalance of representation,” says report author Dr. Tanji Reed Marshall, a former director of P-12 Practice at EdTrust, an organization dedicated to dismantling racial and economic barriers in the American education system.