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Re: Little House connections
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From: Sharron L. McElmeel <mcelmeels_at_uwstout.edu>
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:14:05 -0600
This Little House discussion has reminded me of my rant about the Disney-fication of the Pochantas story; and the twisting of history. I don't think I need to get on my soap - box. My son who has an adopted Native American daughter, listened to my rant, and then said, "But you know Mom, this is one of the few times that _________ has felt very special. Everyone wants to be like her." For a child who had difficulty making friends, and bounced from base to base with a military family - Pochantas - specifically the Disney Movie brought her a few shining moments in the sun.
I saw his point but at the same time I wish there hadn't been so much literature that made her feel exactly the opposite -- that this distortion of history was one of the few shining moments she had felt during her years in school. To read in a class reading that " The only good Indian is a dead Indian" (Little House on the Prairie). Or portrayed as "savage" and "primitive" (Little House on the Prairie) most likely would not have been erased by those few shining moments in the rays of the Disney movie.
Would we get away with using a book that said "The only good African American is a dead African American?" Or "The only good woman is a dead woman." Even if that was the thinking at the time the book was written
- would we still be using that book in our curriculum? Would the book still be in the libraries? Why would "The only good African American is a dead African American" be considered by most people as being racist, but the phrase "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" raises hardly an eyebrow?
Bringing out the "censorship" argument for retaining books that we would not ever retain if they dealt with another minority or with women, is not really defensible. Let's move on and get some titles in the hands of readers --- titles that don't need a Disney movie to shine a light on their lives.
Sharron McElmeel
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:14:05 -0600
This Little House discussion has reminded me of my rant about the Disney-fication of the Pochantas story; and the twisting of history. I don't think I need to get on my soap - box. My son who has an adopted Native American daughter, listened to my rant, and then said, "But you know Mom, this is one of the few times that _________ has felt very special. Everyone wants to be like her." For a child who had difficulty making friends, and bounced from base to base with a military family - Pochantas - specifically the Disney Movie brought her a few shining moments in the sun.
I saw his point but at the same time I wish there hadn't been so much literature that made her feel exactly the opposite -- that this distortion of history was one of the few shining moments she had felt during her years in school. To read in a class reading that " The only good Indian is a dead Indian" (Little House on the Prairie). Or portrayed as "savage" and "primitive" (Little House on the Prairie) most likely would not have been erased by those few shining moments in the rays of the Disney movie.
Would we get away with using a book that said "The only good African American is a dead African American?" Or "The only good woman is a dead woman." Even if that was the thinking at the time the book was written
- would we still be using that book in our curriculum? Would the book still be in the libraries? Why would "The only good African American is a dead African American" be considered by most people as being racist, but the phrase "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" raises hardly an eyebrow?
Bringing out the "censorship" argument for retaining books that we would not ever retain if they dealt with another minority or with women, is not really defensible. Let's move on and get some titles in the hands of readers --- titles that don't need a Disney movie to shine a light on their lives.
Sharron McElmeel
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Received on Tue 11 Feb 2014 01:14:31 AM CST
