Arts and Letters: Freeing the Elephants: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Arts and Letters: Freeing the Elephants: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Babar - teaching Imperialist propaganda?

(*sighs*)

The problem with being 'politically correct' about the books/cartoons of our childhood is that there's no way to be fair about being judgmental.

As the author of the article points out we may need to 'think' before we introduce stories like 'Little Black Sambo' to young readers. Yes, that may indeed be a good point, however, *I* read that story as a child and *I* never thought that black people sat around in the jungle eating pancakes. They were STORIES not FACTS. And even if there are some 'deeper meanings' hidden for adults to find while reading such stories to their young children - so friggin' what? Are we going deprive children of 'faerie tales' because they may be scary, or politically incorrect?

I wish I could share some of the stuff that I enjoyed as a child with my children and my step-children - but unless I purchase the stuff it is not readily available. I am not trying to shove propaganda down any one's throats. When did we come to this point in our society where we feel that books and ideas are so dangerous? It's like the time I was cornered after my Yoga class and asked by some fundamentalist Baptist African-American women to explain the word/concept of the word 'Namaste'. I explained that Namaste is a greeting but it's deeper meaning is that the divinity and light within me recognizes/respects/salutes that same light and divinity within you....if there had been a stake handy, I'd have been burned at it. One snorted her derision. "You think you are divine????" Trying to explain this to them did me absolutely no good - they left my class, never to return - even after a scathing letter from one of their own group calling for tolerance....

To this day part of me wanted to ask them - Is your faith that weak, that a mere word can bring it down? Well my dear then you are indeed in some deep trouble...

Are we all such imbeciles that bastions of our youth have to now be rethought/rewritten because the next generation might be offended? PUHLEASE PEOPLE. Think a little here...it's not time to write a revisionist version of our childhood literature, cartoons or anything else...or to ban or for that matter BURN books, is it? God I sure hope not.