By placing a racist illustrated book, “Tin Tin Au Congo,” behind locked doors, and making it available only upon request and appointment, the Brooklyn Public Library is sending the wrong message about how to deal with controversial works.
We blacks, of course, know racially offensive images when we see them, but we also don’t need librarians protecting us or our children’s wonderment and discovery from “bad” images and messages in books. Where would such paternalism in the forms of censorship and banishment begin and end? Will the librarians also banish “Huckleberry Finn,” Mark Twain’s classic work, on account that Twain’s book uses the “n” word too many times? Would some parents’ or scanners’ objections to “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” also hold sway and place that book under lock and key, too? Our children, black and white, deserve better.
Read more: here.
Initial LISNews reporting on the TinTin book here.
bear in mind
This is commentary from the New York Daily News…”New York’s picture newpaper”, and a less than stellar news source. Of course, the article is opinion, not news.
I suppose people need to see both sides of the issue, but I bet if the book was released back into circulation, the outcries would be neverending, particularly in the black community.
Two things
1. It’s “Tintin”, not “Tin Tin”, as any fan knows.
2. Right now, Snowy has dug a small tunnel out of the book cage and is sneaking up on the guard to swipe his keyring as he snoozes, so Tintin will be free in a matter of minutes.
Ah, the life of the librarian.
so, no one thought about the content of this book before they ordered it? no one thought, “Oh, the representation of the people of the Congo is pretty darn offensive to our post-WWII mentalities, so what is our plan when someone complains?”
this is one of those half-assed compromises that office-types find purposeful, but go against every notion of a free public library. libraries love signs, so where is the sign that says,
Whoever you are – thank you
Whoever you are – thank you for the new sig line I’m about to inflict on my writing clients.
yay! that was me!
I have a purpose! I make sig files.
the.effing.librarian
You know, this stuff annoys
You know, this stuff annoys me for yet another reason. There were two UK bands from the ’80’s which referenced this comic and I use Titntin to explain the idea of cross-referencing. I also use it to explain how pop culture can bridge culture gaps in online conversations. Yes, I have a lot more examples and many of them are scholarly. I still can hate the fact that someone locked up one of my toys.