Insider vs. Outsider

The question that I believe is at the heart of this debate is whether or not a person who is not an 'official' member of a particular racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, or any other group of people can authentically represent a story that reflects the true nature of the group in question. Can a white person write a story about blacks, Native Americans, Chinese? Can a Christian write an authentic narrative of a Jewish family, or Islamic?
I believe that it is probably more likely for a member of the particular group to write a story that is true to the nature of his/her culture, religion, etc. They have grown up experiencing that way of life, and it is a part of them. It would in all likelihood require little to no research, at least regarding the generalities, and the author knows for a fact that the information is authentic, at least for themselves. I also believe that it is not impossible for a person outside of that particular group to accomplish the same task. It would take more effort, more research, and more time, but it is a possible feat.
I am not saying that every piece of literature written by a minority author is automatically a high quality story, and before a book should be used in a classroom the teacher needs to consider the both the authenticity as well as the literary value. Ideally, both would be high enough that exposing the kids to it is not even in question for both cultural and academic purposes. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. It is possible for a non-member of a group to write a book that is just as authentic a story as a member, and that the quality of the book is higher. The contrary is also true. And sometimes a lower quality piece of diverse literature can be effectively incorporated into a curriculum, although how this is accomplished should be carefully scrutinized by the teacher so that no major misconceptions are formed, and so that there is still academic benefit to the students.
I think that to automatically exclude a piece of literature because the author is not an exact representation of the characters would deprive us as teachers, as well as our students of many pieces of quality, authentic literature. Cynthia Smith discusses this issue in her article titled, "Spotlight on CLA Social Justice Workshop" with specific references to Native Americans when she says, "I'm not suggesting that only Indians can write about Indians. To reflect today's intertribal and interracial population, any writer would have to stretchcross-culturally. In addition, a number of non-Indian writers hav etakn to heart their homework and giftedus with treasured works"(p. 8). Also, I am curious how the availability of books relating to minority ethnicities, races, etc. would change if books by non-relatable authors were removed from library collections. I have a feeling that those sections of books would diminish in size, and the chances that those books provided for children to be exposed to people not like them would be erased.