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#Post#: 15309--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Hanna Date: October 3, 2018, 10:18 pm
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[quote author=Anon4Now link=topic=716.msg15286#msg15286
date=1538608616]
[quote author=Hanna link=topic=716.msg15253#msg15253
date=1538583647]
[quote author=lmyrs link=topic=716.msg15145#msg15145
date=1538507503]
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.
[/quote]
I agree with this - going in both directions.
I haven't read or seen those tales in years and my memory is
only that as a child I saw and liked the (I guess it was Song of
the South) movie on TV. Am going to see if I can find that
again and am curious to watch and see how I will feel about it
now.
I just googled and found that there was a 2006 movie called The
Adventures of Brer Rabbit voiced by Wayne Brady, Nick Cannon,
Danny Glover, D.L. Hughley and Wanda Sykes. Hard to imagine
that they would participate in something they felt was racist.
I like the idea of suggesting the other books mentioned here.
[/quote]
The 2006 film (and the book and play that preceded it) were
created specifically to reclaim the stories as part of
African-American heritage, by removing the slave-nostalgia and
demeaning stereotypes, and putting them more in line with the
original African source material.
It wasn't made because the Uncle Remus wasn't racist. It was
made exactly *because* the Uncle Remus book was intensely
racist.
Here's an article from the time the movie was released, to give
some useful context:
HTML http://www.blackfilm.com/20060324/reviews/brerrabbit.shtml
[/quote]
Thank you. That is good to know.
#Post#: 15312--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: ZekailleTasker Date: October 3, 2018, 10:58 pm
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I wanted to clarify that Aunt Clara isn't MY Aunt Clara. I was
reaching for a name that had befuddlement written all over it
and at that moment, an ad appeared on TV for ancient reruns of
"Bewitched"! Who better than Samantha's beloved dotty Aunt?
Our Clara verges on dingbat from time to time. She always shows
up about 10 minutes from closing with the most complicated
requests. I really don't think she's that much older than me,
but she behaves as if she is 132. (I am 63, but believe that
"elderly" is however old you are plus 30 years. If I live to be
90 "elderly" will be 120.
In any event, I have ordered half a dozen different editions for
her and I will suggest she have the teacher vet the book. As I
said, when I was the age of the kids she plans to read to, I
loved those stories. (My favorite was "The Will o the Whisk" as
I recall.) The book had illustrations based off the Disney film
and they were gorgeous. The end papers had a picture of the
forest path and B'rer Rabbit's retreating figure heading into
the evening dusk. And I thought it would be so cool to be able
to follow him into those woods. As far as I was concerned, he
was just a cool talking bunny who could take on the world with
both paws tied behind his back and an equal to Toad and Peter
Rabbit. NOW, of course, it would never occur to me to hand that
book to anyone. But I hope it is okay to remember fondly how
much those tales meant way back when context meant nothing to a
7 year old.
#Post#: 15313--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: ZekailleTasker Date: October 3, 2018, 11:00 pm
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[quote author=AmandaElizabeth link=topic=716.msg15208#msg15208
date=1538545871]
see if you can get her a copy of ‘the long grass whispers’. It a
book of the
African stories that got transformed into the Bre Rabbit
stories. It stars Kalulu who is actually an african hare and
offers an insight into the traditional African way of living. I
loved it as a child as it reflected the culture I saw around me.
[/quote]
Oh gosh! I forgot that one when I was pulling the stories for
her. We don't have it, but maybe I can ILL it for her.
#Post#: 15321--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Kimberami Date: October 4, 2018, 6:24 am
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We can't scrub or sanitize history for our children. Slavery,
racism, and segregation are an unfortunate reality. We teach
history so that we learn from the mistakes of the past. That
being said, these topics must be handled with the utmost
compassion and respect. Folktales are a beautiful way of drawing
kids into the past. I live in South Carolina. In South Carolina,
some people speak Gullah.
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah
It's really much more than a dialect. It is a rich and vibrant
culture. There are so many wonderful stories. As a white woman,
I would never, ever try to read these stories in a Gullah
dialect to a group of children. I would; however, find a video
to share the stories with children.
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZFiDbhHo1c
Just listen to the difference between the two readings:
HTML https://youtu.be/riRMqNtl3ow
HTML https://youtu.be/YkjnkKEZ5ZE
When people outside of the original culture try to put on an
accent, it can come across as condescending and mocking. That
doesn't mean that it is the intention of the reader to do that,
but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Children can
and should hear these stories, but context is so very important.
I would gently advise Aunt Clara against her plan. If necessary,
I would give the teacher a heads up.
#Post#: 15329--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Aleko Date: October 4, 2018, 7:48 am
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[quote] As far as I was concerned, he was just a cool talking
bunny who could take on the world with both paws tied behind his
back and an equal to Toad and Peter Rabbit.[/quote]
Mind you, if you re-read Wind in the Willows with an adult eye,
the class entitlement and prejudice are just breathtaking. Toad
is not only a conscienceless thief and a public menace on the
roads but a borderline sociopath - vain, idle, lying, bullying
and self-pitying. But because he's a rich squire of an
established property-owning family he is to be tolerated and
defended; whereas working-class groups are either humble,
deferential and willing to be ordered on errands, like the field
mice, or criminal, violent and predatory, but deep-down
cowardly.
#Post#: 15333--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Twik Date: October 4, 2018, 8:42 am
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I think possibly we have to separate Brer Rabbit himself, who is
cool and authentic, from the specific book in question, which is
... not so. (I'm not sure I even read the original as opposed to
"adaptations" after the Disney film. I vaguely recall the
dialect, but possibly it was in one of those anthologies where
children's stories from many authors were collected.
Going back to the original question, it's tricky. On one hand,
you can be overbearing by commenting on a customer's choice, on
the other hand, you could be letting her in for a world of
trouble. The best solution would be to suggest that she run the
book choice by the teacher because it can be seen as problematic
by some people.
#Post#: 15345--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: Thitpualso Date: October 4, 2018, 11:06 am
---------------------------------------------------------
As I mentioned earlier, librarians sometimes have to gently
‘save’ patrons from themselves. That’s the purpose of the
reference interview.
Aunt Clara means well but she doesn’t seem to recognize the
pitfalls of potentially racist literature.
It could be very useful for Middle School or High School
students in an urban setting to discuss the stories. The same
isn’t true for 7 year-olds. The kids might enjoy the stories if
they could understand the dialect. Their parents would almost
certainly not.
Presenting African folk tales would be preferable but Aunt Clara
doesn’t seem to know much about those.
When I was a child, there was a series of books I often borrowed
from the library. The series was ‘Tales of a (fill in the
blank) Grandmother. There were books of folk tales from China,
West Africa, Poland, Italy, Mexico, you name it. Something like
those would be a good choice.
#Post#: 15427--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: cabbageweevil Date: October 5, 2018, 5:01 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Aleko link=topic=716.msg15329#msg15329
date=1538657285]
[quote] As far as I was concerned, he was just a cool talking
bunny who could take on the world with both paws tied behind his
back and an equal to Toad and Peter Rabbit.[/quote]
Mind you, if you re-read Wind in the Willows with an adult eye,
the class entitlement and prejudice are just breathtaking. Toad
is not only a conscienceless thief and a public menace on the
roads but a borderline sociopath - vain, idle, lying, bullying
and self-pitying. But because he's a rich squire of an
established property-owning family he is to be tolerated and
defended; whereas working-class groups are either humble,
deferential and willing to be ordered on errands, like the field
mice, or criminal, violent and predatory, but deep-down
cowardly.
[/quote]
Wild Wood by Jan Needle is IMO in its idea, a rather splendid
alternative "take" on WITW: a left-wing alternative / parallel
to the original, where Toad and his middle-class supporters /
lickspittles Mole, Rat, and Badger are the villains; and the
heroes are the Wild Wooders -- the stoats / weasels / ferrets
who take over Toad Hall while its master is away in prison (the
hero and first-person narrator is a ferret called Baxter).
Interesting stuff; though in my view, as a work of literature a
bit clunky and poorly-put-together.
#Post#: 15460--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! Can I tell the patron this
is a bad idea?
By: ZekailleTasker Date: October 5, 2018, 1:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Since we are talking about Wind in the Willows (and, yes, I know
about the background of those NOW, but not at seven) I have to
share story from college days.
A drama teacher was recalling time spent directing a company
that was performing a version of The Wind in the Willows for
inner city school children. They were performing the sequence
about Toad's car. One of the stoats steals it and then abandons
it for one of the other characters (badger?) to find. As Badger
is about to climb into the car to return it to Toad, a little
girl in the front stood up on her seat and yelled "Watch it,
baby, that car is HOT!"
Kind of brought the house down.
#Post#: 15477--------------------------------------------------
Re: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-zip-a-dee-yay! UPDATE: Whew!
By: ZekailleTasker Date: October 5, 2018, 2:49 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Aunt Clara was here and, whew, it's her GRANDCHILDREN she's
reading to. Of course, she was indignant that the books would
be controversial. She's a retired teacher who, for better or
worse, knows everything. We had quite the conversation about
B'rer Rabbit, Little Red Riding Hood (and it's meaning) and a
whole bunch of other stories.
But, as long as it's her grandkids, I am relieved and she can
read whatever she wants.
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