tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21153604.post980646886689568426..comments2024-03-10T21:49:37.789-04:00Comments on Adventures in Mama-Land: Racism in kids’ classics: what do you do…?Tziviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11828930310967808828noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21153604.post-43820661217248720152011-01-12T08:12:58.248-05:002011-01-12T08:12:58.248-05:00As South Africans we are really sensitive to racia...As South Africans we are really sensitive to racial issues that are so deeply embedded in our history. <br />I am often touched by the sensitivity that even very young children have when we discuss racial issues that crop up in some books. <br />Strangely, my high schooler's curriculum 2 years ago covered SA modern history and I expected her to have an emotional response to the photos and information, but to her it was 'history'. <br />Books are wonderful tools to open up issues and facilitate deep and meaningful discussions.Nadenehttp://practicalpages.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21153604.post-85889428286624139392011-01-11T17:51:02.255-05:002011-01-11T17:51:02.255-05:00If a book was truly racist (i.e. the book itself t...If a book was truly racist (i.e. the book itself treated those of other races as less capable and less valuable) then I don't think I would use it with younger children unless I had some compelling reason otherwise (NOTHING else that would work). Obviously such books might be very important for teens to understand and analyze as part of a study of history or philosophy.<br />If a book presented racist attitudes of various people that were appropriate for the place and time in which they lived, but the author didn't seem to be condoning it, then I would read and discuss or not depending on the circumstances. (Too much preaching can do more harm than too little.) *Little House on the Prairie* fell into this camp for me; we did discuss the comments of the neighbor who thought the natives had no right to the land because they didn't farm, we talked about the causes of the conflict and past wrongs, but we ignored Laura's desire to have a "papoose" which just seemed like innocent childish greed, like wanting a baby brother.<br />If a book is incidentally racist--i.e., it presents people as "different" in a way that is currently considered offensive, but is not actually saying anything negative about the *value* of those people, then I probably would just let it pass, or if necessary point out that we don't use those terms/draw people that way/etc. anymore. *Little Black Sambo* is in this category, I think. It's only the drawings and the names which are now considered insensitive; the story itself is just a rollicking folktale. I like both the alternatives you mentioned, but I don't think there's any deep harm in the original, either, since children are no more likely to take it seriously than they are to consider *The Three Billy Goats Gruff* as a guide to the behavior of goats.Queen of Carrotshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03193758647591339890noreply@blogger.com