With the current interest in comics and graphic novels, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss potentially racist material in these media. I have provided a link below to a webpage I created with 5 examples of material that needs to be carefully evaluated by librarians when they decided where to put it in their collections. These strips range from exteremely racist, to what could be called potentially racist. With one exception, all of the material is pre-World War II, and everything has been taken from books in my own collection.
http://students.lisp.wayne.edu/~du7140/ComicsPage.html
Some things to think about:
Assuming these works were catalogued as part of the children's collection, how would you answer a child who approached you and asked why Rachel (Gasoline Alley) has such big lips? How would your answer change if the child were African American?
How would you answer an Anishnabek child who asked why the man in the TinTin books talks the way he does? How would you answer the parent who wants to know why that book is even in the library?
The Little Sambo strip is highly racist and highly offensive; how can its presence in the library be justified? Is there any reason for such material to even be part of the libraries collection?
Can you think of any ways to use "Julio's Day" as part of a library program on Central American heritage, or a program on racism?
These are a few resources I found useful
TinTin:
Overview of Herge and his works: http://lambiek.net/artists/h/herge.htm
Article on recent TinTin controversy: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/arts/18arts-ATINTINCONTR_BRF.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
American Indian sterotype Subject Guide: http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/stereotypes.htm
American Indians in Children's Literature: http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007_04_11_archive.html
The Gumps:
Overview of Sidney Smith: http://lambiek.net/artists/s/smith_sidney.htm
Image taken from:
Walker, Brian. (2004). The Comics Before 1945. New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (page 126)
Sambo and his Funny Noises
The Comics Before 1945:
Walker, Brian. (2004). The Comics Before 1945. New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (page 55)
Gasoline Alley
Overview of Frank King: http://lambiek.net/artists/k/king.htm
Image taken from:
King, Frank (2006). Walt & Skeezix vol 2. Montreal; Drawn & Quarterly
Julio's Day:
Overview of Gilbert Hernandez: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Hernandez
Image taken from:
Hernandez, Gilbert (2004). Julio's Day. In Ware, Chris (Ed.) McSweeney's Quarterly Concern
vol. 13 (pp 242-243)
