Racial Disparity in Children's Books

This is a topic of interest of mine for the last few years, and its one of those miasmas of American society surrounding racism. This is a very sensitive issue, and I will try my best to not offend anyone. I usually don't talk much on this topic, for one as someone who has not felt the sting of racism - in any of its forms: overt or the persistent and invisible everyday forces - I don't think I can comment adequately upon this experience. I think its despicable, but I recognize that it does exist. America, for as much as it likes to scream it is, is not color blind. Now that I have said my preliminaries, I want to move on to what brings me here today: the lack of people of color in children's books. I read two OpEd articles today from the NY Times, both touching upon this subject.
There is without a doubt a severe disparity between children of color and caucasian children in books, epsecially children's books. The two articles were written by a father/son both in the publishing industry and relate personal stories of their own. Both describe the feelings of never reading books that describe the human lives of people of color, but always discovering more and more books decrying the lives of slaves and civil rights giants of the 1960s. What about all those years in between and after? Where are those stories?
The two articles are here  and here. Although short, I cannot emphasize enough how worth the read they are. As Christopher Myers states "Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, just 93 were about black people", and there is a link on his post to the study. Check that out as well. Even years and years after the civil rights movements, we still see this scarcity. We still we have a dearth of stories for people of color. A great porportion of the American population is forgotten on the pages of books. For a land that prides itself in diversity, we sure have a lack of it in one of the most important educational tools we have.
Publishers cite the infamous line: there is no market, there is no readership for these types of books. Who says? What, do people of color not know how to read? False. Have you thought maybe you do not see this group of people as a market because they don't purchase your books? Well, maybe they don't purchase your books because you inform them they are not a market? (that makes more sense in my head). Or they don't purchase your books because you don't publish books that interesting or captivating to them. You can only read so many books about the young white boy's coming of age story. Seriously.
There IS a market, it is there. People of color are no longer a numerical minority. Only a societal one.
Unfortunately, I have no answer for this massive problem. Because it is a problem and all I can do is advertise this unjustice. Even the NY Times admits the issue if they are willing to post about it. It's here, it needs to be remedied. One way is to show publishing companies that there is a problem: Buy books with people of color as central characters, rejoice in those stories too. Don't discriminate when it comes to reading, I know I don't. When there are more stories about talking animals than children of color, we need to change something. And I think now is the perfect time, don't you?

Luthien and Beren

As some of you may know, I am a Tolkienite. This means I am a lover of all things written and created by the illustrious author, J.R.R Tolkien. Many of you may know him as the creator of Middle-Earth and author of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. I recently began rereading The Silmarillion, which is the history and lore of Middle-Earth. It's a very dense read, with more names, places, and battles then the whole of GRRM's Saga of Ice and Fire combined. For those of you brave enough to read it, may the light of the Valinor be with you.
My favorite tale so far speaks of the quest and love of Luthien and Beren, an elf-maiden and a man of the North. From now on, I want a love like Luthien and Beren, not Romeo and Juliet. Let me extrapolate a bit. Beside the fact that Luthien was no weakly trembling maid, she did not wait meekly in a high tower awaiting for the return of her lover. No, instead she decided to face her doom head on and accompany Beren on his quest to retrieve one of the coveted Silmarils. She befriended the noble hound Huan, a beast of Orome. Luthien ignored her father, Thingol, and went after her beloved Beren. She was not going to be given away like some prized gem, she followed her own fate.
I might even go out on a limb to say she's the hero of the story. Let's review. I'm will not give a synopsis of the story for that is too long and too tedious to attempt. Instead, let me explain a bit. When trapped in a high bower, she created a magical cloak from her own hair to hide her from all eyes, snuck out, and on foot went after Beren. He left to recapture a Silmaril from Morgoth, and after a sojourn at with one of the Elvish kings, he continued on his journey. She rescued Beren, saved his life (twice!), and also snuck into Melkor's (AKA Morgorth) fiercest fortress in the evil lands of Angband. She did so by casting a deep, powerful spell over all the creatures, including the Valar Melkor himself, and allowed her beloved Beren to snatch a much coveted Silmarils. She then is the one who brings the two of them to safety.
Luthien is a very strong female character. I enjoy her for her orginality and her uniqueness, especially in a saga dominated by fierce male characers. She knows she's powerful, and in a way knows she stronger than Beren. She also accepts her fate, she doesn't blindly follow Beren. She knows exactly what's going to happen, but Luthien goes forward anyway. Because this is what she wants, so she goes for it. There is no holding her back.
I think she is one of my favorite characters thus far. I admire her compassion and love, but also for her bravery. She was waylaid several times, trapped by her own father, and told countless times to forget her love for Beren. But instead, she does what makes her happy, she does what's best for her. She is an individual, she makes her own choices. In a literary world where female characters like this are rare and stereotypical Type A, it's a relief to discover such a gem.