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From: MalibuInc at aol.com <MalibuInc>
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 02:01:51 EDT
I've been following this discussion with great interest. Mainly because One of children's books, "The Boy Under The Bed" was called racist. The story is about a baby monster with a boy under his bed. My illustrator and I choose universal symbols to represent childhood. One of those universal symbols was an Indian head band the boy wears, until the end when he gives it to the monster as a gift of friendship.
He behaves like a boy does when mom and dad are asleep, and he is supposed to be asleep. Jumping on the bed, wearing a sheet over his head and generally being mischievous. Because of the Indian head band, some people felt we were creating a negative stereo type of Native Americans with the boy's wild behavior.
Being part Indian myself, I was upset by these comments. I would never degrade any race, and the story had nothing to do with race. As a writer I demand the right to use any images I choose. Should we as writers not be allowed to use an image that derives from another culture? Don't we have the right to make that choice for ourselves?
The saddest part was the message of the story was learning to look past what you hear about people and find out about people for yourself. The Boy Under The Bed is about learning tolerance. I assure you, no child will ever read my book and grow up hating Native Americans. What child would read a story about a monster with a boy under his bed and think less of Native Americans?
Now they want to ban the Harry Potter books. When the kids finally put their Nintendos down and begin reading, adults want to stop them. We look too heavily into these stories. Let the kids read, free of our ugly adult preconceptions.
Preston McClear
Received on Fri 22 Oct 1999 01:01:51 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 02:01:51 EDT
I've been following this discussion with great interest. Mainly because One of children's books, "The Boy Under The Bed" was called racist. The story is about a baby monster with a boy under his bed. My illustrator and I choose universal symbols to represent childhood. One of those universal symbols was an Indian head band the boy wears, until the end when he gives it to the monster as a gift of friendship.
He behaves like a boy does when mom and dad are asleep, and he is supposed to be asleep. Jumping on the bed, wearing a sheet over his head and generally being mischievous. Because of the Indian head band, some people felt we were creating a negative stereo type of Native Americans with the boy's wild behavior.
Being part Indian myself, I was upset by these comments. I would never degrade any race, and the story had nothing to do with race. As a writer I demand the right to use any images I choose. Should we as writers not be allowed to use an image that derives from another culture? Don't we have the right to make that choice for ourselves?
The saddest part was the message of the story was learning to look past what you hear about people and find out about people for yourself. The Boy Under The Bed is about learning tolerance. I assure you, no child will ever read my book and grow up hating Native Americans. What child would read a story about a monster with a boy under his bed and think less of Native Americans?
Now they want to ban the Harry Potter books. When the kids finally put their Nintendos down and begin reading, adults want to stop them. We look too heavily into these stories. Let the kids read, free of our ugly adult preconceptions.
Preston McClear
Received on Fri 22 Oct 1999 01:01:51 AM CDT
