Is "Darkey" a bad word? Should it be banned? Little House in the Big Woods gets banned. (racism, stereotypes)
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7year old? Seems there are more appropriate books around for that age group
Little House in the Big Woods is a story about a child around that age. It is a very appropriate book for a 7 year-old. It is an excellent book to teach about life back in the late 1800's through the eyes of a child.
Little House in the Big Woods is a story about a child around that age. It is a very appropriate book for a 7 year-old. It is an excellent book to teach about life back in the late 1800's through the eyes of a child.
Ok you Oldhag. LOL.
Possible with the right instruction and parental guidence, which you don't get much of in public school. I would recommend it for 9-10 yrs if it were my decision.
Location: Georgia, on the Florida line, right above Tallahassee
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I think these are excellent reading materials and should not be banned. That book doesn't teach hate. It shows how life was around that time, that is all. I'm glad we've grown bigger than this.
Possible with the right instruction and parental guidence, which you don't get much of in public school. I would recommend it for 9-10 yrs if it were my decision.
There is a lot of right instruction going on in the public schools, we just tend to focus on the wrong instruction - just human nature. Every February I had my class read Sounder in part because I wanted them to understand why Black History Month was important. It gave the kids insight in ways that lecturing and posturing never could.
I doubt we would be able to ban this word any more than we have attempted to discourage use of the increasingly popular N word. Just that idea has fortified the slurr's notoriety. And in my life's observation, it appears that we don't learn from history's mistakes as much as we repeat them. So banning is pointless. Education and appreciation are priceless.
I'm black and I think it's crazy. The LH series was one of my favorites growing up. I remember being disappointed and not liking LIW very much after I understood the racist beliefs but I still enjoyed the history...it didn't warp my mind or destroy me. Those books are one of the only authentic accounts of that time period from a child's perspective. They should be explained but not banned.
Darky was an old almost affectionate term in American lore. "Hear the Darkies sing".... Naw - You can't go around banning words....or books- Mark Twain wrote beautiful stories - Huck Finn...had a respectful and loving relationship with the Darkey Jim.....These are terms common in the era...There is no hate connected to the word...People want to get rid of Twain's writings...wipe them out of existence as if they were never written- As a kid Mark Twain was read to us in school...I don't remember any of us thinking that Huck Finn was a superior to his black friend..They were two friends on an adventure...Twain was not a racist..He was a fine intelligent writer and us Whitey folks will stop calling you Darkey if you stop calling us Whitey...deal?
It's funny, you never hear of top school districts and top private schools banning books.
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