Before Readings: Insider/Outsider debate

In order to get an accurate depiction of the culture, race, disability etc., I think that it is important for an insider to write books based on their experiences. Many of the articles last week talked about different stereotypes that were found in books about Native Americans. I feel that these stereotypes could be avoided if people from that cultural background wrote about these books rather than an outsider. This is a very controversial subject and I am wondering if my mind will change at all after I read the articles. I personally trust books more that are written from the insider perspective because these people have actually been exposed to what they are writing about. They have experienced some of the things that they are writing about first hand. It just does not seem as credible if an outsider were to write about a culture that was not apart of them. If an outsider does write a book about another culture other than their own, I think it is important for the author to expose themselves to that culture and use people from that culture as their best resources for writing the book. It seems that an insider would do the best job avoiding stereotypes and these books would not be offensive.