DS upset at library removal of books

[Scallybatch]

Went into my local library today with DS, only to be told they have removed all Tin Tin and Asterix books! He was really upset as these are his favourite books!. All the lady could tell me is that they had been told to as they upset some people. I'm baffled. Would I be unreasonable to complain?

Ah, a Farage fan willing to believe everything you read in the daily mail!
You can absolutely say Merry Christmas, there is nothing racist about that and no intelligent person of any race will say otherwise. There are many religious beliefs in the UK and the non-christian ones are far more accepting and respectful of the Christian faith than those (I suspect you are one) who practice no religion and instead spout ignorant hatred.

CurlewKate was, clearly, making a joke.

I think a lot (most?) old UK/ European children's books of that era that depict people from other countries would have a bit of a "piccaninnies with watermelon smiles" thing going on. Rupert the bear does. They probably belong in the adult part of the library, under "historical children's fiction" so that the cultural references aren't completely lost but so that young black (or Chinese or Inuit or Polynesian) children aren't confronted with that shit. It really is "othering". Tintin or Rupert or whoever the young male white (yeah I know Rupert was originally brown) protagonist is aren't made to look ridiculous, only the funny foreign people.

as a child in the 70's the original ones were great. The eleventy million that popped up afterwards, not so much.

I agree (& it's not selfish).

if we ban books because they might offend someone in 2024, we are banning actual & social history.

pretty much all the classics would have to go. Pretty much all the war time books. You can't change history. Trying to pretend it never happened is a nonsense.

And you don't see a difference between "trying to pretend it never happened" and actively pushing it on children?

I suppose Suppose I phrased that wrong.

But still, surely, surely some books should not be readily available in the children's section of the library? If you can agree that, then why is it such a stretch to think that books with racist content can reasonably be omitted from it.

At the moment, they remain available if request. If they make it back onto the shelves, any with racist depictions should be kept in an appropriate adult section.

I think it's absolutely fine to protect children from exposure to racist content. I don't think the same should apply to adults. The argument that removing Noddy from the children's library will lead to the banning of Dickens and Shakespeare is deeply silly.

@CurlewKate are Noddy books actually banned from libraries though?
You can't buy the originals new anymore but the updated versions are still available in bookshops/Amazon.

Yes precisely this.

Racism is still very much rife. We’ve had 3 incidents alone in the last 4 months - for context my youngest is in year 2 and my eldest in year 7.

I’m appalled, but not shocked, at some of the entitled and ignorant comments in the thread.

Yes absolutely, but also I think that the parents of white children should equally understand and accept that it’s not appropriate to allow their children to access books that portray the mentioned ethnicities in this way. It’s simply adding to a problem that very much still exists.

It depends on the child. My DD has read asterix and we had a conversation about how they portray black people and how it is simply unacceptable for all the reasons on this thread. She now is far more aware about stereotyping and the way certain ethnicities and marginalised groups can be portrayed and its impact. I would far rather that than banning them and pretending that whole era didn't happen. It means we don't learn.

Again, it’s easy for you to say that and it’s a privilege for you to get to have that conversation with your daughter.

What you’re failing to appreciate is the impact and harm those images could have on the children who are of that ethnicity.

Just because some of us know better, many do not. Allowing this sort of imagery to continue to circulate is perpetuating harm.

My DD is 'of that ethnicity'. But I do agree that not everyone would necessarily have that discussion which is why explanations could be printed into such books and/or newer versions redraw the characters (although the storylines can be problematic too!)

My children too and I naively never really appreciated how these sorts of issues would make them feel.

I feel like every single time they experience racism, it chips away at their self esteem and belief a little and the damage is irreparable even with the best will in the world and all the discussions we’ve had about past ignorance. The issue is, having personally experienced racism already in their short lives, more than once, they rightly feel that this isn’t a past issue and so coming across this sort of imagery, only serves as a nasty reminder of how some people view them.

I am offended that he is wearing the red rose of Lancashire instead of the white rose of Yorkshire, ban this sick filth!

I don’t know what is going on with libraries at the moment. All of the woke ‘you are what you feel’ rubbish is allowed and put on prominent display but tintin and asterix not allowed because some people got offended.

@MumWifeOther "What you’re failing to appreciate is the impact and harm those images could have on the children who are of that ethnicity"

Actually, while I understand this, I am actually more bothered about the many children who will have racist stereotypes hard wired into their brains by racist parents, or by parents who are not in a position to have the discussion that obviously Mumsnet parents have.(I include myself in that group)

Struggling to understand your point here?

@MumWifeOther Sorry. I mean that it's ok for people to say they will use racist material as a teaching opportunity for their children they will be in a massive minority compared to the parents who will either not notice the racism, will agree with the racism or will not care about the racism. So the actual immediate impact on children belonging to the group being stereotyped is of course real, but is not the only reason we need to get rid of racist books.

ah yes, of course. I agree.