A survey of children's television programs in San Francisco showed that the programs do not reflect the needs, problems, and interests of local viewers. One-fourth of the city's population is children. Two thirds of those enrolled in the city's public schools are not Anglo. Despite this, 17 of 27 programs monitored one Saturday morning in 1972…

A study of eight basal reading series was conducted to determine how Native American characters are portrayed in basal readers and how much realism is in recently published stories. Native Americans were not presented in first grade stories. Fifth grade stories were realistic and well written. (JHZ)

Describes the monolingual nature of the United States in a multilingual world. Proposes a partial solution--a National Foreign Language Center which would utilize current technology to allow quick access to information about any language. (LMO)

Discusses the group dynamics of ethnic parades with respect to participants, outsiders, and recent immigrants. Covers the following topics: (1) context of parades; (2) community development within historical and social environment; (3) American and ethnic aspects; (4) presentation of immigrants in parades; (5) relationships with homeland; and (6)…

Asserts that most representations of non-Western cultures are inherently tainted with Eurocentric and colonialist precepts. Argues for, and describes, a variety of strategies to deconstruct these perceptions. Maintains that issues of ethnicity, inclusion, and difference are more complex than normally thought. (MJP)

Traditional rhymes and folktales can offer understanding of our customs and culture but also contain elements that can raise obstacles to the academic and social development of young children, especially those from other cultures. Consider the following when evaluating traditional literature: meaningful language, unintentional promotion of…

American Indians are regularly cited as models by and for Europeans. On closer examination, these "Indians" turn out to be a fictional assemblage fabricated over the past five centuries to serve specific cultural and emotional needs of its inventors. Studies changing representations of the Indian as used by European cultures. (AF)

Two films, the fictional "Thunderheart" and the documentary "Incident at Oglala," demonstrate that Hollywood can sometimes portray the ethnic conflicts of Native Americans accurately. Both explain the ambivalent relationship with the dominant society that Native Americans have chosen through their refusal to be patronized. (SLD)

Investigates 50 children's books set in West Africa and discusses 13 titles in-depth to examine how West Africa is portrayed in fiction for children and young adults. Suggests that white authors tend to portray West African culture as "incomplete," while black authors depict the culture as "pure" and untainted. Argues that…

Sixty-nine School Journals, magazines for New Zealand students from 7 to 13 years old, were surveyed to examine the representation of ethnic groups and cultures. The magazine issues from 1979 and 1987-1990 featured 760 items (e.g., stories, articles, poems, songs, and plays) were analyzed for the activities, languages, roles, age, and gender of…

This teaching guide, produced in cooperation with Indian parents, students and teachers, offers classroom material on the complex culture and history of American Indians. The guide suggests youngsters be taught that, contrary to stereotypes, there was a wide variation of Indian tribal groups and cultures in North America. A list of 14…

The relationship between the racial composition of television casts and their portrayal of Black Americans is examined. Observations of six selected television programs over several weeks indicated that the portrayal of Black in integrated and all-Black programs communicates different images about Black Americans. The results indicate that Black…

Data on the Lue of Chiengkham, Thailand, illustrate a contention that much of cultural anthropology consists of (1) reporting the folk predicates of folk ethnic identification labels, (2) assuming that all predicates are properly ascribable to such labels, and (3) looking for human populations to which the labels can be applied. In this paper,…

Examines 25 introductory sociology textbooks to ascertain patterns of race-ethnic coverage. Discovers coverage to be fairly extensive but focused around a limited set of sociological topics (stratification, education, health). Coverage in other areas (age, politics, religion) was significantly lower. Discusses implications for course development…

Compares and contrasts the representation of World War II era Germans in English textbooks and academic histories. Finds the academic histories to be more varied and in-depth. Discusses the strategies used by the textbooks to create portrait of mindless aggression. Considers educational and policy implications. (MJP)