CCBC-Net Archives

Little House Books are racist?

From: Ranson Family <slranson>
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 22:13:46 -0500

I feel that the Little House books are a wonderful representation of the belief systems that were prevalent during their time frame. Isn't the accuracy of the period presented a part of the criteria for accessing a book's worth? If we label books as racist because they do not fit into our present day way of thinking, we do an injustice to our future generations. There are many books, especially those of a historical nature, that could be labeled as racist but should remain available because of the accuracy of the times they portray. My grandmother read the Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley to me as I was growing up. These books included
"slave-speak" in their dialogue. I did not grow up to be racist, but to appreciate the time and plight of African-Americans instead. Let us not be guilty of whitewashing history to make us more comfortable with its content.

Lisa Ranson Lawton, OK
Received on Thu 04 Oct 2001 10:13:46 PM CDT