Read this short article from Ebony Elizabeth Thomas on the role of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in today’s classrooms.
Over this module you’ve seen a few different approaches to ‘problematic’ literature:
- Rudyard Kipling: mostly his books have fallen away to the history of time except for The Jungle Book in it’s Disney film version.
- Doctor Dolittle: Bowdelerizing the text to make it ‘acceptable’ OR adapting it so that only the name and talking to the animals remain.
- Little House on the Prarie (and Dr. Seuss): Organizations responsible for publishing or handing out awards deciding to make a change calling attention to the role and problems of this book.
- Disney Plus: Adding a content warning
Beyond letting things go out of print, another option with material that is deeply racist is censorship as in the case of the book Little Black Sambo is to ban them, mostly from schools.
In all of these cases, just as in the process to get published, there is a gatekeeping role that happens somewhere in the process. A good example of how this works in one area is taken from a list that was released of the top checked-out books for children from the New York Public Library. A list that, surprisingly, did not contain Goodnight Moon.
Response: What do you think of these various materials? Were you familiar with any of them in some form? Were there things to like about the different pieces that you read even though there were problems? How do you see gatekeepers playing a part in the transmission of problematic materials? What about individuals? Do you see nostalgia as playing a role in this? What do you think we should do with problematic art and culture?
5 thoughts on “Wrapping it up”
For me this was the first time looking at many of these works as far as I can remember. I definitely see in the media a nostalgia for some of these works and realize that they were integral to the childhood of many. But I feel like as the standards of society change so should the acceptance of this media. Instead of showing it to young children, it should be contextualized and presented to mature audiences. This both lets the artistic elements be seen by future generations while not blindly instilling problematic beliefs.
I was familiar with Dr.Seuss’s stories like Cat and The Hat and had no idea that these characters has such deep racist history. I did not know that the characteristics of white gloves, big eyes were inspired by minstrelsy. I really did enjoy Dr.Doliitle since it was a story about a kind-hearted doctor who is able to connect to animals until I read up to the problematic part. Unfortunatly many beloved stories are the same way and it’s hard to ignore the problematic aspects of the story or the author themsleves. Gatekeeps play a huge role in who gets to see these problematic materials and if they get shown. Again, the idea of hiding or “gatekeeping” materials doesn’t allow us to confront it and address it fully. And its extremly unfair for authors and for what children are able to gain access to. I think we need to have more conversations about problematic art and culture. As well as education. We should listen to the feelings/thoughts of people who have been affected. Instead of erasing, we need to actively address these issues, educate ourselves (and each other) and continue to change for the better.
I was not familiar with any of the material. I knew nothing of Dolittle or Rubyard Kipling. I did like the way Dr. Dolittle begun. I thought it was very wholesome and it just had to do with adventures of a man who found a different life path and connected with animals in a way that he couldn’t with humans. But then it got racist and ruined any shred of enjoyment I had for the story. I understand what gatekeepers are trying to do and in a way I appreciate their efforts. Why spoil life for a child by introducing complex and traumatizing concepts like racism to them? But the problem is that racism will not be eradicated any time soon, so its important to teach these concepts to children, but in a way that doesn’t normalize racist behavior. Its important to teach everyone to be anti-racist. So putting disclaimers, confronting works of art in a way that acknowledges its racist history, but adapts it to be educational and spark open discussions rather than ignoring it, and allowing these works of art to exist with the intention of teaching others how not to be are all ways problematic materials can be used for good. I understand that for some people admitting their favorite nostalgic forms of media are problematic can be hard, however if we want our children to be better we must teach them to think critically, show compassion and empathy, and understand why it may be problematic and offensive to a community of people and why those things shouldn’t be supported no matter how great it may be.
I was familiar with these authors and some of the works, but I was definitely surprised to learn how deeply racist the characters were and the intentions behind the creation of these characters. I remember LOVING The Jungle Book and the film especially. I especially loved all of the visuals/illustrations. Learning the history behind the story however has been very eyeopening. I think gatekeepers would claim that they do not want children to learn about the racism and problematic culture behind this literature because of the uplifting history that the literature carried. Ignoring it does not justify it in any way, it just keeps a positive light on something that for the most part, was always seen as positive. There is surely nostalgia that comes with children’s literature and film. In this module I really noticed myself getting upset learning about the racism that we as children were never aware of. It is hard to view the literature now with the same innocent eyes/the same innocent perspective.
I believe this module truly opened my eyes to how racist a lot of children’s literature was. I also found it interesting how throughout my years of school, I don’t remember ever discussing how literature had been racist. This module really shed light, to be mindful when reading different texts, and perhaps questioning the language, remarks, and the intentions of the writing?I was horrified to learn about Dr Seuss. I feel in a sense that my innocence became corrupted after finding this out. I thought Dr Seuss books were genius, and extremely impressive. I thought they were so well written that children can go on to remember and discuss them throughout their entire lifetime. I also never read Dr Dolittle, but was also sad to see how this children’s book was racist. It really makes me horrified that storytellers and authors who are supposed to write for every child’s enjoyment, included so much racism.