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#Post#: 15039--------------------------------------------------
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! UPDATE: Whew!
By: ZekailleTasker Date: October 1, 2018, 7:12 pm
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Question for librarians: Have you ever interfered with a
patron's book selection when they announced their decision to
read a controversial book to a school class?
Aunt Clara used to be school teacher and is now a ditzy library
patron who reads to children at their school once a week. She
has unusual ideas about what is an appropriate book to read to a
class of elementary school kids in a very urban school.
She came in tonight and asked us to find her a highly
illustrated version of The Tales of Uncle Remus, which she
proposes to read to a class of second graders. "Oh, and if you
can get it with the full vernacular, that will make it that much
more fun for them!"
Not going to lie: when I was a kid, I LOVED all the tales and
simply found B'rer Rabbit and his buddies to be as magical and
lovely as Toad and Ratty, Peter Rabbit and all the animal
friends from Old Mother Westwind. I still love these books, but
I am a grown up looking back with nostalgia on the illustrated
book I was given as a child.
I cannot imagine a modern class of thirty seven year olds are
going to feel the same. I can't imagine their teachers or
parents will, either.
My staff and I know she is a nice and well meaning lady who is
living in a big bubble. We are wondering if we should gently
tell her that reading this out loud, in slave vernacular, is not
going to add up to a wonderful day.
#Post#: 15046--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: guest657 Date: October 1, 2018, 7:45 pm
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You should certainly tell her to show it to the teacher before
she reads it.
If you're not comfortable pointing out that the language is
offensive, or that portraying slavery in that way isn't
acceptable...
You could say it's so old-fashioned that the kids or teacher
might not "relate" to it. So the teacher should review it.
Hopefully, the teacher vets all the books. In my kids' school we
had to give advance notice on anything we brought in to read.
Probably mostly for grade-level matching, but there's always
going to be a range of what parents think is appropriate, and
the school needs to err on the side of caution.
#Post#: 15047--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: jazzgirl205 Date: October 1, 2018, 7:54 pm
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About 10 years ago, I read Uncle Remus and the Virginia Hamilton
stories to children. Not only that, we acted them out. Here's
what I did: since I am a white Southerner living in the South, I
read the stories in a rural white Southern vernacular. After
all, these 200 yo stories were inter-racially passed along for
generations. The first time I heard most of these stories was
from my father (whose accent was a cross between Foghorn Leghorn
and Amos 'n' Andy). I feel these stories are important because
they deal with life issues and the characters are neither black
nor white, but animals. If they had to be indicative of a
culture, it would be one of rural poverty regardless of race. I
think these stories should remain part of our living literary
heritage.
That said, a white woman trying to imitate African-American
vernacular is audio blackface. Explain to your aunt that she
needs to read it the same way she reads other folktales.
#Post#: 15066--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: guest657 Date: October 1, 2018, 11:32 pm
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[quote author=jazzgirl205 link=topic=716.msg15047#msg15047
date=1538441640]
About 10 years ago, I read Uncle Remus and the Virginia Hamilton
stories to children. Not only that, we acted them out. Here's
what I did: since I am a white Southerner living in the South, I
read the stories in a rural white Southern vernacular. After
all, these 200 yo stories were inter-racially passed along for
generations. The first time I heard most of these stories was
from my father (whose accent was a cross between Foghorn Leghorn
and Amos 'n' Andy). I feel these stories are important because
they deal with life issues and the characters are neither black
nor white, but animals. If they had to be indicative of a
culture, it would be one of rural poverty regardless of race. I
think these stories should remain part of our living literary
heritage.
That said, a white woman trying to imitate African-American
vernacular is audio blackface. Explain to your aunt that she
needs to read it the same way she reads other folktales.
[/quote]
As a fellow Southerner, I suppose I can imagine how you could
whitewash Uncle Remus and pretend it wasn't a depiction of a
happy-go-lucky slave on the nostalic old plantation.
I'm puzzled, though, how you think you took the racist content
out of The Tar Baby. Since the entire reason Brer Rabbit beats
the "child" is because he appears to be black.
#Post#: 15071--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Aleko Date: October 2, 2018, 3:11 am
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[quote]I'm puzzled, though, how you think you took the racist
content out of The Tar Baby. Since the entire reason Brer Rabbit
beats the "child" is because he appears to be black.[/quote]
Surely not! Brer Fox greets the "child" politely: ‘Mawnin’!’ sez
Brer Rabbit, sezee; ‘nice wedder dis mawnin', and gets annoyed
when she repeatedly refuses to respond in kind. Surely in the
Old South that rudeness was enough reason for an adult to give
any child a clip round the ear, as Brer Fox does?
#Post#: 15087--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: jazzgirl205 Date: October 2, 2018, 8:05 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Anon4Now link=topic=716.msg15066#msg15066
date=1538454735]
[quote author=jazzgirl205 link=topic=716.msg15047#msg15047
date=1538441640]
About 10 years ago, I read Uncle Remus and the Virginia Hamilton
stories to children. Not only that, we acted them out. Here's
what I did: since I am a white Southerner living in the South, I
read the stories in a rural white Southern vernacular. After
all, these 200 yo stories were inter-racially passed along for
generations. The first time I heard most of these stories was
from my father (whose accent was a cross between Foghorn Leghorn
and Amos 'n' Andy). I feel these stories are important because
they deal with life issues and the characters are neither black
nor white, but animals. If they had to be indicative of a
culture, it would be one of rural poverty regardless of race. I
think these stories should remain part of our living literary
heritage.
That said, a white woman trying to imitate African-American
vernacular is audio blackface. Explain to your aunt that she
needs to read it the same way she reads other folktales.
[/quote]
As a fellow Southerner, I suppose I can imagine how you could
whitewash Uncle Remus and pretend it wasn't a depiction of a
happy-go-lucky slave on the nostalic old plantation.
I'm puzzled, though, how you think you took the racist content
out of The Tar Baby. Since the entire reason Brer Rabbit beats
the "child" is because he appears to be black.
[/quote]
Uncle Remus was not a slave. Joel Chandler Harris set the
stories post-bellum which is around the 1870s to 1880s. Br'er
Rabbit did not beat the tar baby because he was black. He beat
the tar baby because the tar baby would not exchange
pleasantries therefore showing disrespect. Br'er Rabbit himself
is supposed to be a depiction of a black person. Although wiley
and intelligent, he is small and considered inconsequential. He
is constantly facing danger from the bigger carnivores who are
in authority. His only weapon is to outwit them. In spite of
this, he still demands respect. These stories contain important
lessons for children.
Aesop, however, was a slave. Do you propose that children not
be exposed to Aesop's Fables?
#Post#: 15110--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Twik Date: October 2, 2018, 10:34 am
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I've got to admit my memories of Brer Rabbit stories are far in
the past, but I don't think the tales themselves are racist per
se. In fact, they're basically folk tales from black
southerners, albeit filtered through a white collector and
author. As such, the tales are no more racist than, say,
"Glooscap's Stories" which I also loved as a child, and in fact
can expand the cultural awareness of young children. It's the
framing that's problematic, and is the framing part of the book
or just the film? I truly can't remember.
I do recall it's written in dialect, which would make reading it
out loud VERY problematic if the reader is white.
So, if the person proposing this is white and clueless of the
cultural issues, she definitely is heading for her own painful
appointment with the briar patch. I wouldn't allow this unless
there was full agreement from any groups you have that look into
multicultural/racial issues.
It's a shame these stories are caught in this trap, because they
are both highly entertaining to children and remnants of a
genuine folk tradition which shouldn't be let die any more than
indigenous tales.
#Post#: 15118--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: DaDancingPsych Date: October 2, 2018, 11:17 am
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If I have told my librarian that I am searching for a particular
book and the reasoning behind the search, I would want him/her
to mention any concerns in a gentle manner as previously
suggested. Even something along the lines of "I know that
several schools frown upon that book because of some of the
material." I would also appreciate my librarian offering an
alternate suggestion if one is available. "Kids that age would
LOVE this new series that we have." After that, I think you have
to let patrons make their own errors. You have provided the best
service by trying to meet their needs and then we just hope it
works out for the best.
#Post#: 15145--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: lmyrs Date: October 2, 2018, 2:11 pm
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Real question: How many of the people defending these stories on
these threads are black? It's easy to deny racism if you aren't
experiencing it. It's a blanket. "I'm not racist. I like these
stories. Ergo, these stories aren't racist." (I now feel the
need to explain that I am not calling anyone in this thread
racist. I am simply asking you to examine other points of view.)
There are a million stories out there. You don't have to choose
the series of stories that a white man appropriated from black
people in the wake of the civil war. You especially don't have
to read them in "black vernacular". That is, as a PP pointed
out, audio blackface.
#Post#: 15176--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: SnappyLT Date: October 2, 2018, 4:55 pm
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What do you men by "interfered with"?
You will go ahead and obtain the book by inter-library loan,
right, so you will not interfere with her ability to borrow the
book? I think you have to do that, ethically.
However, what is to stop you from pointing out to the patron the
possibility that the book may not be well-received, and why? As
long as the patron is the one who decides, I think you've
behaved ethically.
(Personally, I would strongly suggest the patron run that
particular title past the teacher just in case that teacher does
not vet the books in advance. If there is nothing objectionable
about the book, then there shouldn't be an objection to running
it past the teacher first, I think.)
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