There are so many different cultural categories, since the definition of culture goes far beyond that of race, that people belong to that everyone is an 'insider' on some topic. Plus, I believe being an 'outsider' of a cultural group can be considered as a cultural group of its own.
All in all I do not believe someone necessarily has to be an 'insider' to write about a particular group of people. As Violet Harris writes in her article, No Invitation Required to Share Multicultural Literature, she write about author Donnarae McCann who is European-American and says;
"She possess the critical consciousness that enabled her to create an excellent examination of the depiction of Native-Americans. In the column that she co-authors with Opal Moore in the Children's Literature Association Quarterly, she writes eloquently about other groups as well. I selected the authors because they are experts in literacy and/or children's literature; they are informed about the group's literature; and they possess the critical consciousness that enables them to assess literature in a forthright manner" (pg. 11).
Does it matter the culture of the author; a great piece of literature is a great piece of literature.
Going off that, however, I think it is irresponsible of an author to write about a cultural group different from their own if they have not properly educated themselves. As Rudine Sims Bishop writes in her article, A Reply to Shannon the Canon, "you have to know a culture intimately if you're going to reflect if accurately in your fiction" (pg. 6). Writing about culture in a children's book is not a task that should be taken lightly. It is important to portray people accurately as to not give children the wrong ideas.
