But if you go to the Brooklyn Public Library seeking a copy of “Tintin au Congo,” Hergé’s second book in a series, prepare to make an appointment and wait days to see the book.“It’s not for the public,” a librarian in the children’s room said this month when a patron asked to see it.The book, published 79 years ago, was moved in 2007 from the public area of the library to a back room where it is held under lock and key.The move came after a patron objected, as others have, to the way Africans are depicted in the book. “The content is racially offensive to black people,’’ a librarian wrote on Form 286, also known as a Request for Reconsideration of Library Material.
There goes Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Goodbye Flannery O'Connor. But I will bet you that you can check out rap DVDs, something to listen to when you need to slap yo' bitch for messin' up your crib and disrespectin' you.
So the Brooklyn library, like most others, routinely offers access on its shelves to hot-button works like Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” or Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Capricorn,” which has a naked couple on its cover.
3 comments:
Went back a couple of times to look at this. Just couldn't get offended, and don't think any of my friends of African heritage could either.
I disagree. It is rather offensive. Not intentionally so. But it's a product of it's time. The real point is...So what? So it's offensive. People of any intelligence are going to recognize it as a bit of anachronistic colonialism. People who are not of any intelligence...well, what are the odds they're going to the library looking for Tin Tin. Or going to the library. Or can spell library.
What is offensive is another person deeming it so - and the library hiding it because of that. When you start trying to cover up the warts, the full picture gets lost. Just leave it on the shelf and allow people to make up their own minds as to what it is.
Post a Comment