Quote:
Originally Posted by hildea
I think the problem with that book is that the only picture of a Chinese person is of someone in stereotypical clothing and stereotypical accessories.
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I have no problem with giving a book a negative review.
However, I do have a problem with withdrawing the book for that reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hildea
If the book had also had Chinese people who were interesting to look at because they were driving airplanes, or were firefighters, or were eating an absurdly large cake, and if it also had some white people who were interesting to look at because of their ethnicity (a Scot in kilt playing a bagpipe, a Norwegian in bunad eating lutefisk), or even just a few Chinese people among the extras in the background, wearing top hats and playing instruments, I think the book would have been fine.
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When I was a child, at least for a few years, biography was my favorite genres. By the theory that occupational diversity needs to be present in every title, we could stop printing, and stop selling on Ebay, all juvenile biographies, since no one book shows it. Perhaps more were about scientists like George Washington Carver than hunter-gatherers like Geronimo. But both should be known.
In times of moral panic, I wish they would just leave my grandkids books alone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hildea
What do you see as the role of literature?
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Provide a wider perspective. If the librarian finds that almost all of their children's books treat people of color as weird and exotic -- which would mean it was an extraordinarily weird library -- the remedy is to supplement with other kinds of books. But if hardly any of their books show people of color as weird and exotic -- or just to make sure a wide range of perspectives are in their collection -- they should, if they can afford it, buy the withdrawn titles while still available.
If they can't afford it (more likley
),
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street enters the U.S. public domain on January 1, 2033. Even if retail outlets remain limited, I hope for brisk sales to send the message that book suppression backfires.