Quote:
Originally Posted by Phogg
As it happens, I have no problem with it.
I teach my children that human beings are not dogs.
There is zero value in some claimed genetic pedigree.
I point out that ony 3 out of every 10 North Americans is a genetically pure anything at all.
And that it doesnt matter.
Humans have always presented derogative views of groups they disliked, even when they had to contrive the alledged connections to start with.
People are just as likely to do this over skin color, economic status, language, education, religion, or sexuality as they are over melanine content.
Why would I tech my children anything else?
It isn't a kind world, and I wish for them to be best able to cope with the world that is really there. Not helplessy waiting for someone else to make it all better.
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I'm not sure what you are answering to...
... do you/would you give your young black children Robinson Crusoe to read, despite it only featuring black people as savage/evil cannibals (save for the one savage/evil cannibal that turns good as a result of being called/turned into servitude by the white protagonist)?
And if so, do you do so without commentary on it all, until/unless they come to you?
My point wasn't that books should be censored wholesale, or that somebody else should solve the problem of so many classics being offensive. My point was that for non-Caucasians living in Caucasian countries, the world that the majority generally presumes to be benign is against them in a myriad insignificant ways (that doubtless do ultimately add up to something significant).
Let us certainly dismiss the idea of censoring books in the smallest ways as dubious or downright wrong. But it doesn't hurt to try to think a bit on the very real factors that might have made some individuals think it's a good idea.
- Ahi