to feel uneasy about my son reading Enid Blyton books

Ahh, but the insinuation was there....

I have said on here before, I have friends from every walk of life, from council estate upbringing to peer, every colour, race, religion, age, size, and sexual prefrance (I even have some who can spell )
I have also met people in all of the above I would not Pee on f they were on fire.
A person is a person and you like them or dislike them on the merit of who and not what they are.

I do tent to agree that sometimes people do tend to try and tell other groups what they should be upset by. [ducks]

Hmmm, but you think I am, don't you?

Nikki - you haven't made a case! What case have you made? That not all people who read Enid Blyton are stupid? No-one was arguing that. That not all people who read EB are racist? No-one was arguing that they were.

I did nothing but read Enid Blyton as a child......I ended up doing a degree in Biomedical Sciences, converting to Islam, marrying a Middle Eastern and probably have more foreign friends than English ones....

I rest my case!

I agree, Quattro. Poles apart. But that doesn't mean I should give you a free rein without pissing on your strawberries

Point A: Read the below and tell me that you don't genuinely want to try a google bun

Point B: Do you think the founders of Google were EB fans and if so, they didn't do too badly because of it....

"Well, come back and have tea with us," said Moon-Face, "Silky's got some Pop Biscuits - and I have made some Google Buns. I don't often make them - and I tell you they're a treat!"

"Google Buns!" said Bessie in astonishment. "Whatever are they?"

"You come and see," said Moon-Face, grinning. [. . .]

Soon they were all sitting on the broad branches outside Monn-Face's house, eating Pop Biscuits and Google Buns. The buns were the most peculiar. They each had a very large currant in the middle, and this was filled with sherbet. So when you got to the currant and bit it the sherbet frothed out and filled your mouth with fine bubbles that tasted delicious. The children got a real surprise when they bit their currants, and Moon-Face amost fell off the branch with laughing.

Oh and I don't feed my children on endless McDonalds,

Again, I agree with you, kimi. But Quattro will accuse you of being a racist.

I have tried to explain the definition of the term. A racist is someone who seriously believes that one race is superior to another. I know very few people who think like this.

This obsession with terminology is poncey in the extreme.

Desiderata, I know where you stand on these issues and we are poles apart. I've said before that we are not going to agree on any of these points.

Kimi< I don't agree with you but I still think we should go on that bike ride.

Desiderata

The McDonalds point is about junk food for the mind.

Can I add that I think a word is just a word, it is how that word is used that matters, also people hijack words and change the meanings, 50 years ago to say John is a gay chap and today to say John is a gay chap mean too things, the latter could be seen by some as offensive.
DPs sister is at Uni with a girl called Pakki (who is Asian), so is she supposed to change her name as others might take offence?

Tis a strange old world we live in, as we have seen on BB a black person's and a white person's use of the word n*** is totally different, its the same word who ever says it so why is it ok for one group and not another?
I have gay friends who refer to each other as queen, fag and old poff, so if a word is so upsetting and offensive it should be upsetting and offensive whoever is saying it should it not?

Also, I like EB and encourage my children to read books and would not stop them from reading EB.

Please explain how can words hurt you? I think the meaning of the "truism" is that they can only hurt you if you let them. If you choose to ignore them, they have no meaning, hence no power. "Water off a duck's back" and "turn the other cheek", just to get biblical, mean similar things don't they?

You are in the habit, Quattro, of making sweeping generalizations.

TA, come on the bike ride. On the way we can take some publicity material from the BNP. Or the Daily Mail. Take your pick. We can read them to our infants and take the manifold opportunities we have provided to them in order to explain what racism is.

A slow clap for Quattro.

Yet again.

EB readers take their kids to McDonalds. It's obvious, ain't it

Armadillo, I never said that you had to read EB to be educated. I just thought why dismiss an opportunity to educate? And could you please give me your definition of PC because I don't read the Daily Mail.

"Remember "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.""

That is the most untrue truism going IMO

Yes because those who don't want to read EB books to their children are obviously refusing to educate their children about any kind of predjudice etc etc etc

And can some of you slagging off Political Correctness actually find out what it means rather than the daily mail definition?

Did you ever see 5 go mad on mescalin? It is the funniest sketch ever. I am determined to be one of the five with you Kimi. On our bike ride, can we find some local oiks to patronise?

Oooh Kimi!!! Supahh idea darhling!! What fun!!!

Any mnetters up for a midnight feast tonight once matron is alseep??

Live and let live I say. I would never in a million years advocate book burning.

Everybody should be free to guide their children to read Enid Blyton, drink 5 fruitshoots a day and eat McDonalds for every meal. Absolutely.

I don't do any of the above with my infants, but that's my choice.

One of the points I was trying to make to the OP is that it is nonsense to excuse EB's racism on the grounds that she lived 50 years ago. Plenty of much better children's writers of that vintage and earlier were not remotely racist or classist at all. Take E Nesbit as an example.

What is that awful post about good white folk telling blah blah? Did we need that really?

oh yes, kimi! Bags I bring the nice ham.

I say chaps shall we all go off for a lovely picnic tomorrow, we can go on our bikes and find a lovely little spot, tell our parents we will be home for dinner, and just ride off in the the country for the day.
I am sure we can stop n at a farm house or two for ginger beer as well.

Here's a thought...One way to destroy predujice is through education. If you don't give children the opportunity to see and discuss other points of view and ways of thinking then how will the world get better? I'm from the states and we've taken "PC" to the nth degree. In fact you can't say anything now without insulting someone. I say lighten up everyone. Remember "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." "PC" would have died out a long time ago if people would remember that a little more. Just my opinion