Thank you to everyone who responded.  According to that article, my instinct to use "Blacks" was a good one. The particular book I was looking at that inspired my post, Seeing into Tomorrow, is actually about African American boys, so I used that subject.

I appreciate the other terms, like diversity, and People of Color, etc, but I think it is important (as one of you said) to be specific.

I want to be able to provide students with "mirrors" to see themselves in books, and cataloging books with specific terms enables that.

I am beginning to see problems with "race" or "diversity", as those terms assume "white" as normal or the standard.  Much like the article said about Astronauts.

Lots to consider, and we librarians have some power to make these small changes.

Elaine

On Fri, Jul 31, 2020 at 1:47 PM Lynch, Joyce <lynchj@plainvilleschools.org> wrote:

Personally, I think that term may be easily misinterpreted and some may be offended. How about: “People of Color?” I just use an inclusive term: diverse. 

On Fri, Jul 31, 2020 at 11:18 AM Cheryl Robertson <robertsonc@guilfordschools.org> wrote:

Hi Elaine, 

That's a great point.  Might we also add the term "Brown"?  I am eager to read our colleagues' suggestions.

Respectfully,

Cheryl

On Thu, Jul 30, 2020 at 10:01 AM Elaine Shapiro <elaine.shapiro7@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi everyone,

I often add subjects to my catalog records in my elementary school library.

For example,  "multicultural" "African American"  "civil rights".  But, as I learn more about race, I realize that African American is not an accurate term for books about or featuring black people, because not all black people in the US are from the US originally. Thoughts on better subject terms?  "Blacks" "Black People"?

Thank you

Elaine

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