How Reading Changes Your Perspective

In the political climate we live in, many people are calling out that people don't understand the struggles of people's ethnic backgrounds, or issues that people go through that a majority don't understand (LGBT+, teen pregnancy, drug usage). By reading stories and books by those people, we, as individuals, can start to understand the struggles that we have a hard time grasping.

Changing your perspective is a large part of how we grow throughout our life time. When we are young, adults give us watered down versions of famous stories, in order to keep us from the dark parts of the story. Disney is the biggest example because of how much they changed their animated movies from their original sources. For myself, one of the most rememberable times when my perspective changed was when I was in high school. I remember my junior year of high school, my history teacher read to us a letter from Bartolome de las Casas, a friar of Saint Dominic, to the Spanish King (Link to the letter). The letter documents the horrific acts that were done to the Native Americans, and ends with the friar pleading with the Spanish King to put an end to the pillaging of a peaceful people.

Even though I can never remember what the friar wrote word-for-word, I will always remember the empathy I felt when my teacher read the horrible acts that the Spainards inflicted on these poor people; all for gold that wasn't theirs, on a land that they had no claim to.

The empathy didn't stop at that letter. As I read books on various other topics, I could feel my emotions swell-up in sadness, and I found myself wishing to take away the pain for the characters I was reading about.

Look Outside Your Comfort-Zone, but Still Within

The letter documents the horrific acts that were done to the Native Americans, and ends with the friar pleading with the Spanish King to put an end to the pillaging of a peaceful people.

One of the hardest things for us to do, especially if you are an introvert, is to step outside of your comfort zone. A lot of white people, especially the older generations, have that issue with trying to understand the background on different ethnicities and the challenges they face.

When I say go out of your comfort zone, I don't mean to just dive straight into the really gritty part of a culture's history. One of the best ways that I find I can connect with people and their culture is through reading fictional (or in some cases creative non-fiction) stories written by people of different ethnicities. Not only does it support minority writers (especially if you buy and/or review their book on Goodreads), it also does give you some idea of the culture.

My best example is Crazy Rich Asians by Keven Kwan. Kwan's love story is fictional but it holds a lot of real aspects that are a part of the upper class of Singapore. His novel takes you into this world that not many would have access to and teaches us about how society works within the classes and culture. He book has some dark moments in it, but it is overall a wonderful and fun read. So fun and wonderful that it was made into a large, blockbuster romantic comedy that was extremely well-praised. Books like Crazy Rich Asians can help open your eyes to other parts of the world and new cultures.

Read Books that Spark Your Interest

Sometimes, reading a book that is 500 pages of history can be tough, especially if it is dry. One of the best ways to understand a history (whether its Civil Rights or a war) is through reading a fictional retelling of the story from the point of view of someone affected. You also don't have to limit to ethnicities or minorities. You should read books that talk about drug usage, teen pregnancy, coming out, school shootings. Reading all of these types of books can give you many different perceptions and make you think about these issues.

Some book recommendations to get you started:

• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros - coming-of-age story of a Latin girl growing up in Chicago. I have not read this one, but heard about it from a former friend.

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - a girl's story of living through the Holocaust and trying to preserve books from the Nazis and hiding the Jewish boy she loves. I also have not read this, but it was recommended to me.

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - the first book in Angelou's seven-book autobiography series that focuses on her childhood and teenage years. This book is very heavy in certain subject matter and is better for more mature readers. I have not personally read it, but when I did one of my midnight Wikipedia search-reads, I looked into Maya Angelou and read the very detailed synopsis of the book, which makes me want to read it (as well as cry as the subject matter is very intense).

• Street Love by Walter Dean Myers - the story of two teens from Harlem, who fall in love. I have read this one and it is very interesting, and I love the changes in point of views throughout it.

• The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas - the story of a teenage black girl finding who she is and her place within two different parts of her life (her elite school life and her neighborhood in another part of town) as she testifies in a trial against a cop that shot her defenseless friend in front of her and how she speaks up against police brutality.

• Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser - about the after effects of a school shooting and interviews students and teachers; asking what lead up to the shooting and whether or not it could have been prevented (it's a fictional story that is based on previous school shootings). I read this in high school, after it was recommended by a friend, and it was very riveting. It really makes you think.

• Crank by Ellen Hopkins - the story of drug addiction through the eyes of a teenage girl's mother. I have not read this one but one of my friends was obsessed with it in high school. Crank is the first book in the series.

• The First Part Last by Angela Johnson- a story of teenage pregnancy that goes back and forth between the past and the present. I have read this one on recommendation from a friend and it is a truly heartbreaking story that is told in a unique story format as it jumps through the timeline.

• Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles - a love story about a Latino boy and a white girl, and how they connect over a Chemistry project. I love everything I've read by Simone Elkeles, so she is a great author to look for.

Read Anthologies About Different Backgrounds

One of my favorite books/blogs is Rejected Princesses (Link to the blog). The blog was created by Jason Paroth, a former-animated that loves to research about different women of history and celebrating their stories (I'm paraphrasing from his About Me page).

The blog has gone on to create two books, and continuously updates each week. The stories are about both real and mythological women of different backgrounds from all over the world. I find Paroth's storytelling really engaging and his research very thorough.

Ask a Friend for a Recommendation

My final piece of advice is to talk to your friends! Ask for recommendations about books they like or books they think would help you gain a new perspective. Everyone will have something to recommend, as shown by a few on my list above.

Research using Social Media, such as BookTok or Bookstagram

Recent recommendations that I've seen (I've only seen titles so I need to research to see if I would enjoy the book) have been through BookTok (aka Book TikTok and Bookstagram = Book Instagram). Make sure to follow several users that focus on promoting diverse books. This make take some research as some books may not always be your cup of tea. For instance, I've seen a lot of positive posts about Gideon the Ninth, which is a book I am not interested in because my friend read it and DNFed it after struggling to get through the story. I'm also not be on space sci-fi in general, so it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Social media is a great way to find recommendations that you wouldn't have heard of or thought of initially. Just be aware that some users have biases and flaws (or drama as there is a lot of drama on BookTok - just be aware), so it's good to follow several people to get a well-rounded view of recommendations.