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.
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? (Response – all)
8 thoughts on “Wrapping it up”
I think bringing awareness to these materials that include racist and inappropriate contexts in children’s literature is a big step in the right direction in providing equity of treatment. Even though I was familiar with some of the books above, such as Doctor Dolittle, The Aristocats, and Peter Pan. I did like the things that were included in the films before, however, I can’t say the same if I were to watch them today knowing that they have offensive content. In addition, gatekeeping plays a very explicit role in the transmission of problematics materials, I think the reason why these films are still open to the public to watch is partial because of gatekeepers. When an individual such as a director, author, or character has a specific status in an industry, it helps them bring more attention to a certain film or book that even though it may have offensive details such as the ones above, gatekeeping allows them to be published, largely due to status, race, and from my perspective, a lack of diversity. Adding on, I do see nostalgia playing a role in this. This can be because of the previous history in film/show production and what was considered to be funny or interesting is later passed down in animation and other films that have the public eye blindsided yet still create this nostalgic feeling of well-known comedy or historic events. Overall, I think one of the first things we should do with problematic art and culture is to bring awareness and create a spotlight that can grasp the attention of the audience in order to demonstrate our reasoning on why it’s inappropriate and problematic to still have. Another way is to also post it on social media, more specifically Tik Tok and Instagram. This is because of how large they have an impact on our current generation and are very influential on things.
Most of these stories I grew up reading/watching. I never really realized how many stereotypical, racist material there were. Obviously as a kid we don’t pay attention but it’s also how we absorb facts. Whether it’s done consciously or not, stories we are told as kids have a lot of material in which we try to apply in our lives. I won’t see these stories the same now that I know the hidden meanings of certain things. I do see nostalgia playing a role in this. I think people should spread awareness on this to stop problematic art and culture. The fact that children stories play a big role in this is just very sad. Feeding children stereotypical racist books in which they will most likely use to adapt in life. We could start with informing parents with the double meanings in these books that children read and then continue from there.
I didn’t grow up with reading books and I hate the fact that I didn’t and I think that is why I never liked reading in the first place. I recently just started to read and finding books that I may enjoy reading. I definitely know that there is a lot of stereotypical, and racist materials in the stories that we may have grew up reading or watching and I see it more now that we talk about these things in class.I am happy that we talk about these things because it is really helpful for when I have my own classroom one day. Of course kids don’t pay attention how certain words, pictures or things may be portrayed to the audience. These stories that are made for children should be something good that they will be motivated or look up to in the future. We have to also tell the parents that stories have many meanings and are said in different ways and their help would be great so children don’t learn all the negative things from these stories.
Growing up I read and listened to most of the traditional books we still see today. When I was younger I didn’t quite know/ understand the full meaning of what it was trying to say. Once I got older I never read those books again until now for this class which took me by surprise when realizing the amount of stereotype, racism, and race. we are not just seeing this in children’s books but in adult books which I’m glad in this class I’m able to read and listen to the meaning and understand to what these books hold as well as the movies. it’s not right nor fair for children to be reading about the stereotype or racism these books hold because they could be applying it in their life which isn’t right. I think authors, teachers, and parents should be informed of what it can do or what it can cause a child if reading or listening to these things. I think awareness should be spread and solve the issues.
Growing up i watched all these disney movies without really understanding some of the story. I never really knew what was going on and just watched it because I liked the movies & shows. But with racism and everything we have learned about i really dont think kids understand it and they just watch it because they like it. Some are a little more racist or harmful to cultures more then others and i think the more harmful or more racists the show or movie is we should tell the children about it
Growing up I realized the lack of representation in many of the classics that I read or Disney movies that I watched but the material that was presented in this module, it was all a bit surprising because I never realized how much hidden offensive content was in stories like Dr.Dolitte or even movies like Peter Pan. I loved the concept of being able to talk to animals or just themes of friendship in Peter Pan. Aside from the wrongs in these materials, there is so much good. But I don’t believe revised versions of these materials make the story any less harmful. If anything these revised versions are covering up the problem and not addressing it head on. History teaches us the wrongs and shows us the chronological order of why our world is the way it is today. So if there are better stories that exist, then we can compare the stories that my peers and I grew up with to the newer stories that exist. By showing children the wrong in these old materials, it gives them a chance to absorb the problematic themes and see why it’s not okay. We should keep the original versions and analyze them with kids. I grew up with these classics and I definitely would love to show or read them to my kids someday with ofcourse pointing out both the positives and negatives in the narratives.
I grew up reading and watching most of these stories. I really didn’t realize how much stereotypical and racist material there was. We don’t pay attention to it as children, but it’s also a way of assimilating facts. Now that I know the hidden meanings of certain things, I don’t look at them that way. I think people should raise awareness to stop problematic art and culture. The fact that fairy tales play such a big part is so sad. Give your children the typical racist books they are most likely to conform to in life. You can start by educating parents about the ambiguity of these books, and go from there after their children read them. however I don’t believe we should erase and forget about history because if we do history will most definitely repeat itself. Aside from these material flaws, there are a lot of positives. But I don’t think a revised version of these materials would lessen the narrative damage. If anything, these revisions mask the problem and don’t directly address it. History teaches us to make mistakes and explains why our world is the way it is today. So if you have a better story, you can compare the stories my peers and I grew up with to the new stories out there. By showing children what’s wrong with these older materials, you address problematic issues and give them an opportunity to understand why they’re wrong. You should keep the original version and analyze it with your children. I grew up reading these classics. Of course, I would like to show them to my children or read them to my children someday, emphasizing both the positive and negative aspects of the story.
What I realized about many of the readings and stories so far is that they all have hidden meanings that we don’t really pay attention to when we are reading or watching them. When I was younger, watching any Disney film or anything animated was for entertainment, for fun. I didn’t really notice anything out of sorts or racist or any negative connotations within them. And I think it’s the same for many of us. When we were kids we saw things differently because we were more innocent and now when I watch something or specifically in this class, reading the stories this semester I realize there are so many things that we missed as kids.