tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post3889019709773396808..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Jokes and Riddles in Books for KidsDebbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-73317953803907380482017-03-25T15:22:25.077-05:002017-03-25T15:22:25.077-05:00I just ordered a copy of American Indian Stereotyp...I just ordered a copy of American Indian Stereotypes in the World of Children for use in reviewing and as a collection development and weeding resource. Thanks for the recommendations!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08234613904464608619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-68842859189790942322017-03-22T09:40:27.297-05:002017-03-22T09:40:27.297-05:00You know, there was another joke book with TWO off...You know, there was another joke book with TWO offensive "jokes" about indigenous peoples of North America. Sadly, I can't remember the book's title, but I do believe that the cover had a picture of a dog in a birdhouse with the caption "He thinks he's a bird dog". The first of these two "jokes" was once told by Bennett Cerf (although I doubt that he wrote the book I saw it in). It went something like:<br />A magazine published a photo of a deserted farmhouse in a desolate field, and asked readers to come up with a story behind it. The prize was "won by a little Indian boy":<br />"Picture show why white man crazy. Cut down trees. Make too big tepee. Wind blow soil. Grass gone. Door gone. Window gone. Whole place gone to hell. No pig. No corn. No pony.<br />"Indian no plow land. Keep grass. Buffalo eat grass. Indian eat buffalo. Hide make plenty big tepee. Make moccasin. All time eat. Indian no need hunt job. No hitchhike. No ask relief. No build dam. No give dam [sic]. White man heap crazy." See? Tonto-speech, "lazy Indian" trope, "Indians in the past", and unspecific/mixed tribe.<br />The other "joke" featured a lighthouse being built in the Arctic, with "[a] couple of Eskimos...skeptical about the whole operation". After the lighthouse is completed, a fog comes rolling in, and one of the "Eskimos" "turned triumphantly to the other", proclaiming in Tonto-speech how even though the lighthouse's light, bell, and horn work, the "fog come rolling in just the same". I tried to find that "joke" on the Internet so I could try to quote it better, but I couldn't find it anywhere.<br />Anyway, if you see either of the above two "jokes", and/or that "squ*w of the hippopotamus" (seriously, couldn't they have gone with "squa<b>ll</b> [a type of storm]" instead?!) "joke", in a joke book, don't buy the book.Sam Jonsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06037969317578064759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-31838343860240641142017-03-17T19:52:03.256-05:002017-03-17T19:52:03.256-05:00Which is why I find the SkippyJonJones books offen...Which is why I find the SkippyJonJones books offensive. And these are newly published.Ms. Cesarettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13521582594647384416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-28051023691656732017-03-17T15:05:48.545-05:002017-03-17T15:05:48.545-05:00It's disheartening to see how deep in the cult...It's disheartening to see how deep in the culture the stereotypes go. Bennett Cerf was a major TV personality in the 1950s and 60s, as well as the publisher at Random House. This is a link to an interview with Mike Wallace, about the quality of American television, dated November 30, 1957. Cerf speaks out pretty strongly against censorship. (The HRC is the University of Texas' Harry Ransom Center, one of their special collections). http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/cerf_bennett_t.htmlHelenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13580197904724185881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-27641058694139334952017-03-17T13:43:30.766-05:002017-03-17T13:43:30.766-05:00This is exactly why weeding in libraries has sever...This is exactly why weeding in libraries has several ethical components! Thanks for sharing this so visually. It is going into a future course discussion when students get into their but-I-loved-this-book-and-jokes-don't-age fits.Franciscahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06551676775895848356noreply@blogger.com