Thursday, June 28, 2018

Everything is Racist

While reading online the other day, I discovered that Laura Ingalls Wilder was a racist.  Must be true, for the American Library Association, in it's infinite wisdom, has decided to remove her name from a prestigious award for children's literature.  They do not like the way Wilder wrote about African Americans and Native Americans.  Seems her words don't conform to the politically correct standards of today.

Born in 1867, Wilder's books chronicle her life as a child in a pioneer family.  The words and terms she used reflected the times.  They are a part of our history.

I bought the entire set of 'Little House' books for my children.  I read them all, marveling how those hardy pioneers lived and worked and loved and managed to survive under harsh circumstances. But I suppose by today's standards I should be condemned for exposing my young children to the evils of racism.

Finding this attitude of burning history on the alter of political correctness, I dove a little deeper into the subject.

I was not at all surprised to find the political correct among us throwing hissy fits over the Uncle Remus stories, published in 1881.   Had they done their research, they would have found that the author held in high regard those black story tellers from whom he gathered the stories.  The dialect he used when writing them had nothing to do with mocking that kind of speech and had everything to do with preserving the integrity of the stories.


Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my Dad reading to me from the big book of Uncle Remus Stories.  The antics of Br'er Fox, Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Bear were a delight to a little girl and the lessons taught remain with me.  But all that should be erased from our history, according to those who can find racism in a jelly sandwich.

Moving on to 'Little Black Sambo,' the PC people lose their minds.  How dare any author write about a character named Little Black Sambo.  Those who know best about these things, scream 'racism' at the top of their lungs.  So much so that some publishers have changed the setting of the story to other countries where dark skinned people are not prevalent.

The PC police may have done better to leave this children's book alone, for in it, Little Black Sambo is the hero, outsmarting the bad tigers who stole the fine clothes Sambo's mother had made for him.  He not only got his beautiful clothes back, he got the tigers to chase each other around and around so fast they turned into butter, which his mother used to make pancakes. 

This was another children's book read to me long ago.  Kids love the story, and through the telling learn that bullies are bad, even if they are tigers, the boy in the story is smarter than the bad guys and there are consequences for bad behavior. 

The PC police can't stand to leave these stories alone because, as we all have been told ad nauseam, most everything today is racist, racist, racist.

Sigh.

16 comments:

  1. Oh so true and sad. More than 50 years ago my husband was in the US Navy on board a troop transport ship going from the west coast to the Orient. On his leave times ashore he proudly bought me oriental silk in the form of scarfs, kimonos and lounge wear. I loved this and proudly wore them. Today I would be accused of nationality appropriation. I love mexican and chinese food but if I eat at a restuarant where these foods are not cooked by ethic individuals who own these eateries I will be declared politically uncorrect. When will this madness end and it once again becomes to appreciate and value the different and unique customs and foods from around the world?

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    1. Funny; no one seems to have a problem with the rest of the world "appropriating" American culture...

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    2. I wish I had an answer, Sue...I don't. It is like there are folks who want to just suck the life and laughter out of everything. To me, as a kid, those stories were just stories read to me by my Dad. The memories are mostly of the warm, fuzzy feelings of having a Dad who would read to me. Not too long ago I read where as a white woman I can't wear hoop earrings because hoop earrings belong to a different race of people. Really?

      I have to wonder if it is already too late to get back to the place where a story is just a story, a kimono is just a kimono and earrings are just earrings. I probably should cancel the tacos I planned to make for supper. Wouldn't want to offend anyone!

      Whoever set out to divide this country surely has done a bang-up job of it.

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  2. The only difference between what's happening now, and traditional book burnings, is that no matches are required now.

    It's "1984" and "Atlas Shrugged" playing out simultaneously...

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    1. Pete...You are absolutely spot on with both the book burning and '1984' comments. I have begun to download books from websites like 'Project Gutenberg' - histories, classic fiction, etc., while I still can. The state of our country is really beginning to scare me.

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    2. Read "Atlas Shrugged." The parallels between Ayn Rand's fiction and today's reality will astound... if not terrify... you!

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    3. Pete...I have downloaded a copy. I believe I may have read at least part of it years ago when I still believed government cared and unicorns existed. I have a feeling this time around will be a whole new experience. As I am already somewhat terrified, I expect this book may just complete the process.

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  3. They also teach morals, which liberals despise, too.

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    1. Gorges...Moral behavior and the left agenda are not compatible, me thinks.

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  4. OH Vicki...you are echoing my thoughts too. I am so sick and tired of everything being judged through the prism of the oh so politically correct liberal mindset. It is as if they think they can some how change history by erasing what they don't like...and it seems like there isn't much they do like. They suck the joy out of everything. Cultural appropriation?? How about I'm eating Chinese food because I enjoy the taste and appreciate the skill of the people who created it?

    I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books ...and Little Black Sambo was a favorite of mine as a child. I still have a lovely illustrated copy of it...should probably hide it away...but as a child I was so impressed by how smart he was.

    The ever increasing lunacy of the left has me worried too. Take care...

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    1. carol...We have, in this country, gone completely bat guano crazy! Never, ever would I have believed I would live to see statues torn down because some were offended by them. Or our flag and anthem treated with such disrespect. Or our history and literature changed to reflect a political agenda. There are those who want to remove Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' from libraries, for God's sake. History is history, no matter how some would want to change it to fit their narrative.

      If you read this blog, you know that on occasion I will go off on a rant and I don't particularly care bout being politically correct. I am hampered somewhat by 'Minnesota Nice' for that is in my upbringing. And I believe in letting others have their say even when I disagree. But this notion of the left that conservatives who are in the Trump administration or those who are Trump supporters should not be able to eat a meal in a restaurant or see a movie in a theater or give a speech at a college without being harassed and intimidated and threatened and shouted down is way beyond normal behavior in a polite society.

      Those people are scaring me. Perhaps it is time to take off the gloves.

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    2. When did we get to the point where we can't agree to disagree? It seems that the liberal left thinks there is only on e way of thinking or doing anything and it is their way. As a conservative I don't agree with many liberal positions but it is okay for them to have them. They don't believe that I am entitled to have my opinion and therefore there is no way to agree to disagree. To quote Charles Krauthammer (may he rest in peace...I loved his insights)...Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil. The harassment of conservatives needs to stop. I don't seen conservatives retaliating in kind,except for a group that trolled Maxine Waters and since she told others to do that to Trump supporters I feel she set herself up for the same treatment...too bad. I agree with you I think it is time to push back.

      As for the statutes and literature being removed from our society, I shake my head and wonder if they realize that they are being as bigoted and close-minded as things they are trying to erase from our history. You can't erase history...you can forget it but you can't change the past..you need to learn from it and I don't see that occurring. Sorry for my rant but I think you and I are on the same page for most of this...stay cool...hugs - carol

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  5. The movie "Song of the South" made by Disney all those years ago., will never be re released as it is seen as racists. Splash Mountain at WDW is one of the most popular rides, and the wettest. Disney was able to clean out the racism in it. No menchin of Uncle at all. The LIW books are based on the "Little House" series correct?? Well then since it took place here in MN that makes us racist right?? PC has gotten out of hand that is one thing for sure.

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    1. Rob...The TV series was based on the LIW books. The dolts who call themselves social justice warriors can't seem to understand that books written back in the late 1800's and early 1900's weren't meant to be racist, but were just a reflection of the times. The left has gone completely off the rails. Now everyone who is conservative is racist, Trump is a Nazi and I read just a couple of days ago that the shelters for the families who are illegal aliens waiting for their day in court are concentration camps. How anyone with more than two functioning brain cells can possibly believe that pile of crap is beyond me.

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    2. Well if that's the game they want to play, I'm in. I can't wait for them to claim the U.S. has gas chambers and use dead people for fuel at power plants.

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    3. Gee Whiz Rob....don't give them any more crazy ideas!

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