Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
‘The Snowy Day’ by Ezra Jack Keats, one of the first kids books to portray an African-American child, has been borrowed 485,583 times since its release in 1962.
It was so ahead of its time. I remember seeing it as a child in the 1960s, in a NYC library in eastern Queens, and being absolutely SHOCKED by the protagonist being black, by his hugely overweight mother, by the gritty NYC landscape. You could just feel the steam heat of the indoors after playing outside, in the frames where he is taking off his cold wet clothing. The book was so REAL to me, even though its artwork was representational, as opposed to realistic. I was astonished to see a slum child portrayed as taking pleasure in playing in the snow, just like me.
And of course it was a Jewish man who made that remarkable children's book, the first picture book that I knew of that showed a black child in ordinary circumstances as the protagonist, and in an inner city setting, where many black children grew up. He knew exactly what he was doing. He felt that black children should be able to see themselves reflected in children's literature, just as white children did. Remember, this was the era of the Jewish clergy who marched side by side with black clergy for civil rights, of the Jewish college students who gave their time, energy, and even their lives to register black voters in the South.
Nowadays, for what he did, he would have been excoriated by the black community for "cultural expropriation".
It was so ahead of its time. I remember seeing it as a child in the 1960s, in a NYC library in eastern Queens, and being absolutely SHOCKED by the protagonist being black, by his hugely overweight mother, by the gritty NYC landscape. You could just feel the steam heat of the indoors after playing outside, in the frames where he is taking off his cold wet clothing. The book was so REAL to me, even though its artwork was representational, as opposed to realistic. I was astonished to see a slum child portrayed as taking pleasure in playing in the snow, just like me.
And of course it was a Jewish man who made that remarkable children's book, the first picture book that I knew of that showed a black child in ordinary circumstances as the protagonist, and in an inner city setting, where many black children grew up. He knew exactly what he was doing. He felt that black children should be able to see themselves reflected in children's literature, just as white children did. Remember, this was the era of the Jewish clergy who marched side by side with black clergy for civil rights, of the Jewish college students who gave their time, energy, and even their lives to register black voters in the South.
Nowadays, for what he did, he would have been excoriated by the black community for "cultural expropriation".
1. The word is "appropriation."
2. You obviously don't understand what cultural appropriation is. Also, it sounds like you are saying this just to mock and insult Black people.
Perhaps do a little Googling first next time.
How can you celebrate the book yet denigrate the subject of the book?
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 16 days ago)
35,665 posts, read 18,029,124 times
Reputation: 50706
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal
1. The word is "appropriation."
2. You obviously don't understand what cultural appropriation is. Also, it sounds like you are saying this just to mock and insult Black people.
Perhaps do a little Googling first next time.
How can you celebrate the book yet denigrate the subject of the book?
1. This is not new news. The history of Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement is well documented.
2. Where is there any indication of any contemporary Black people accusing the author of cultural appropriation? You're just making that up to stir up negative feelings toward Black people.
Since the book is decades old, most of the discourse is in the past and all ideas have been expressed.
The article in the OP is about the NY Public Library and yet folks want to create false narratives concerning Black people. Ask yourselves why.
Last edited by charlygal; 01-23-2020 at 07:09 AM..
1. The word is "appropriation."
2. You obviously don't understand what cultural appropriation is. Also, it sounds like you are saying this just to mock and insult Black people.
Perhaps do a little Googling first next time.
How can you celebrate the book yet denigrate the subject of the book?
Thank you for the correction. You are right, the term is cultural appropriation. I used the wrong word, but not the wrong term. Nowadays, if a Jew were to publish such a children's book about a black child, I believe that there would be objections from the black community that he had no right to do so.
I was not denigrating the subject of the book. I was conveying how groundbreaking the book was, and as an example gave the reaction of a white NYC child, from one of the wealthier areas of Queens, when I found the book in the NYC library in the 1960s, as an illustration of just how groundbreaking it was - because there were NO picture books about black children as just ordinary children, doing ordinary things. Most people assume that the author/illustrator of the book was black, but it is of significance that the author of the first widely successful children's picture book that depicted a black child, was a NYC Jew. It was no coincidence. It was a product of that era of Black-Jewish partnership in the Civil Rights era, that a NYC Jewish man would realize how important it was that black children should see themselves reflected in children's picture books, and be the first to publish such a book.
As for the heavy involvement of Jews in the Civil Rights movement, yes, it DOES bear pointing out, in light of the current widespread and pervasive antisemitism as expressed by leaders in the black community, who would prefer to forget it. Go to the Museum of African American History on the mall in DC, and you will see that while the history of the Civil Rights movement there is documented in great detail, in pictures, in words, in recordings and film, there is virtually no mention of the Black-Jewish partnership of that time, or of the heavy involvement of Jews in the Civil Rights movement. Clearly, it is something that the African American community would prefer to forget, and prefer that history forget, since it most certainly is not documented in that most important museum of African American history and culture.
It's relevant background history to the times and culture that produced the man who produced The Snowy Day.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
