This controversial children's book is about a boy's walk in the jungle. I disliked the author's choice of words in this book, in particular that she used 'Black' in front of each character's name. Every time the boy was mentioned he was called 'little black Sambo'. I would not have this book in my classroom because it places the boy's race as part of his name. The term 'sambo' has also been viewed as a racial slur in many countries. In order to avoid the use of this word, and to avoid using the term 'black' as a name, I would not want my students reading this book. This book is very disrespectful to many people and I would not want children in my classroom to think that it's ok to call people by their race. Just as I would not approve of a book about 'little white Jerry', for example. I believe that it's important for children to learn about different races and to read literature that incorporates multicultural views, but this book doesn't include much about the culture of the characters. I think that it should not be allowed in classrooms due to its use of the terms 'black' and 'sambo' and their potential to be extremely offensive to some people.
I also read this book as one of my controversial books and thought that it was very disrespectful. I am not sure what the author was trying to accomplish with this book. It really did not seem to have any meaning to me but that may just be because I was not able to get past the names. I would not want this book in my classroom either for many of the same reasons you have posted.
ReplyDeleteI also read this book and feel it shows disrespect. Putting a skin color first devalues the person and reduces them to a simple color. I, too, wonder what the author had in mind while writing this. Perhaps they were trying to make a bold statement or thought the name sounded rhythmic (if so, these thoughts went horribly awry because many of use don't seem to understand them). For whatever reason, I would like to know, because I want to believe there was some reason to using insensitive language in this book, although I'm not sure there is a good reason.
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