Yeah... I admit I grew up White and Privileged and with an old copy of "Little Black Sambo" that I rather liked as a story.
It did take me a long time to see that it was racist, because of course I'd never heard of blackface, etc, etc. I think in some ways I still only half "get it".
I was thrilled when "The Story of Little Babaji" came out, because it was a non-offensive and more accurate (ie, Indians are Indian) version of the story I had loved.
There is, of course, a fine line when it comes to changing historical literature. I still recall reading a children's novel called "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book" in which the PTA tried to get "Huckleberry Finn" banned from the classroom for use of the word "nigger". Oh boy.
Out of curiosity, have you seen the changes made to "The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle"? How do you feel about that one? I'm torn, personally-- I think they did a brilliant edit, but I worry that it's the start of a distressing trend.
I wonder if I dare address a topic like this over at bookaddiction or if it's too heavy...?
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It did take me a long time to see that it was racist, because of course I'd never heard of blackface, etc, etc. I think in some ways I still only half "get it".
I was thrilled when "The Story of Little Babaji" came out, because it was a non-offensive and more accurate (ie, Indians are Indian) version of the story I had loved.
There is, of course, a fine line when it comes to changing historical literature. I still recall reading a children's novel called "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book" in which the PTA tried to get "Huckleberry Finn" banned from the classroom for use of the word "nigger". Oh boy.
Out of curiosity, have you seen the changes made to "The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle"? How do you feel about that one? I'm torn, personally-- I think they did a brilliant edit, but I worry that it's the start of a distressing trend.
I wonder if I dare address a topic like this over at