[...] of the TinTin books ( Congo , in particular, appeared from 1930 into 1931 … View post:  Brooklyn Library Censors Hide Racist Kids Book | Strollerderby Share and [...]

[...] fluff at best, so we don’t need to add Twilight to the curriculum anytime soon. But I’m going to fall back on the same old mantra: it’s up to the parents to determine whether their kid’s book choices are appropriate [...]

Anne Frank cannot be compared to the racist books being talked about here. The difference here is that Anne Frank is not a racist book. It is a book that celebrates the life of a young girl who’s years were shortened due to racist thinking. Tin Tin celebrates racist imagery and thought without clearly stating the fact that it is racist. The dangerous thing about allowing such a book to be categorized as children’s literature is that it allows children to pick it out freely and read it freely without having the socially conscientious conversation needed to accompany it by an adult. Moving the book does not make it disappear it simply lets adults aware of it’s painful imagery have control over when they choose to open the book and start a dialogue about racism and history. Personally I do not want children to have easy access to racist material. And where as one may feel as though the librarians have made a mistake and perhaps have censored our freedoms. As a African American woman and a mother want my child to have the freedom to go into a library kids section and not have to be bombarded with ugly images depicting people of color as monstrous savages. If it is about freedom then let it be so. Let my child grow up feeling free to navigate a non-racist library. Having racist imagery around and accessible by impressionable kids is not ok. Change the illustrations and some of the plot and bring the book back. Dont’ want to ? then put it somewhere for adults.

Tolani – it’s true that Anne Frank is not a racist book, but it speaks to intolerable racism and the horrible result. I reference it only because it’s a “teachable moment” in history – much as the effects of European imperialism in Africa is a teachable moment for our kids.
Again, I’d ask how many of these books we’re going to remove – should Huck Finn go next? Banning books of any sort puts us on a treacherous path, one that is hard to find an end to once it’s started.
You say that classifying something as children’s literature allows children to pick it up freely. Not really – parents who don’t accompany their children to a library and assess their book choices do that – that’s a parent’s choice.

This is not about banned books. Because they are not banned. They are stowed away. Which, yes, is not ideal. Perhaps moving them to the adult section would be more pleasing to those craving some history.IA teachable moment? Yes ,ok, sure you can defend it as that. And while you are at it would you also defend someone having a “mammy” cookie jar in their kitchen as nostalgia worth preserving? Or a darkie lawn jockey? That is the slippery slope.These books are not history books. They are comics. Comics that depict beliefs that have founded and fueled racist thought for centuries and continue to this day. So history not so much. Bottom line they simply do not belong in any section used by children anymore than say the graphic novel Maus.

The relativism in your statement “[w]hat’s racist by today’s standards was mere fact of the times in which these books were written” is alarming. The sentiments in the book are not racist by “today’s standards,” they are racist. And the stereotypes in the book were never “fact,” they were racist propaganda. You should seriously consider the implications of how you have characterized this story.

Further, this book has not been censored, merely put away where it has to be requested to be viewed. Should copies of Playboy also be on the stacks where children can freely access them? This book is clearly more harmful than the sexual materials we routinely “protect” children from.

Chiken – yes, back then it was acceptable. THAT is the problem with the book – that people WERE so accepting of something so horrendous, that racism wasn’t considered a problem. At the time it was written, it was not considered racist. Doesn’t make it right, but unfortunately that is how it was.
As for whether or not it was fact, yes, it is absolutely fact that white Europeans colonizing Africa treated the people extremely poorly.
Manjari: again I ask how it’s the library’s job to keep the books out of your kid’s hands and not yours. I don’t think you HAVE TO teach your kids via this book – we have plenty of examples in our culture of the horrors of racism that can be used. But allow the library to hide one book, and you give them carte blanche to start removing them all.

It shouldn’t be in a children’s book section. I also guarantee that each and every person here who thinks the book shouldn’t be “hidden away” is white.

The problem is that the stereotypes are true.