Controversy about "The Story of Little Black Sambo"
Saturday January 10, 2004
According to an Associated Press article on Newsday.com, a new version of "The Story of Little Black Sambo" "...has reignited a decades-old debate over the book's racially weighted past." The new edition of Helen Bannerman's 1899 tale was illustrated by Christopher Bing and published by Handprint Books in December, 2003. On the publisher's website you will find a reprint of a thought provoking article from The Boston Globe that sheds further light on the story and its history.
On the one hand, this new edition has been honored as a Kirkus 2003 Editor's Choice; on the other, it has been denounced by some respected cultural historians. There is a helpful essay on the history of the story on the publisher's site. In it, the publisher states, "...in reality, any story must assume life in the context of its history and culture, it will and must resonate in a universe filled with expectations, interests, and prejudices that readers will bring to it. Perhaps for no book does this hold more true than "The Story of Little Black Sambo." If you would like to discuss this topic, join our discussion on the About Children's Books website. recall
On the one hand, this new edition has been honored as a Kirkus 2003 Editor's Choice; on the other, it has been denounced by some respected cultural historians. There is a helpful essay on the history of the story on the publisher's site. In it, the publisher states, "...in reality, any story must assume life in the context of its history and culture, it will and must resonate in a universe filled with expectations, interests, and prejudices that readers will bring to it. Perhaps for no book does this hold more true than "The Story of Little Black Sambo." If you would like to discuss this topic, join our discussion on the About Children's Books website. recall
Comments
This was my favorite book when I was little, and remains so until this day! It was not a derogatory book, rather a book about a little boy in India! I don’t know how the context of this story became so blown out of proportion, but I think if it is read as it is meant to be, the reader will better understand it.
Why is there so much controversy about a book??? I read this when I was little and was amused by the tales. There is no controversy about the “United Negro College Fund” or other all black orgainizations, but let a white man stand up to be counted and he gets knocked down.
Unfortunately, a certain segment of Americans probably prompted by NAACP and ACLU to ban book around the l950’s as black racism. But, the story was set in 1800’s in INDIA and illustrations all depicted the Indian style dress. TIGERS plagued India till modern times.
No history of Tigers in Africa. Sambo restaurants in America were forced to close/change name. Most Americans that read the story would list “Little Black Sambo” as a favorite story. Delightful and enojoyed by many of us in the 1930’s until the individual books were slowly “hidden” in public libraries back in the 1960’s or so.
As a young child, I LOVED this book! I have been trying to obtain a copy for my granddaughter but the prices are over the top! It is amazing how people are willing to cash in on a book that they find offensive. If it had been titled “Little Sambo” would it have drawn the same contraversy? It takes place in INDIA with tigers. Tigers in Africa–I don,t think so. People have become so sensitive and, “Politically Correct” that we are creating more predjudice instead of ending it!
I am so happy I was able to find the book in 1999. It is a sweet children’s book. How can some people be so ignorant and think that tigers are in Africa. But, those who cooperated with those dummies are just as ignorant to take this book out of cirrculation. This act reminds me of repressed culture in America
I have just purchased my own copy of Little Black Sambo. It took me forever to find my childhood favorite with the same illistrators I loved to see, Bonnie & Bill Rutherford. I have never once thought of this book as anything but clever and wonderful. Tiger pancakes?! It doesn’t get better than that.
I have searched and searched for a copy of Little Black Sambo I can afford to share with my granddaughters. I remeber the illustrations be absolutely beautiful. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
Hey ya’ll, ebay or amazon or craigslist is a great place to find the specific versions of this wonderful book that you are looking for. I have been searching myself for a specific version and the only ones I have found have been super expensive. I’ll just hold out and keep looking.
I have to disagree with some of the posters here.
The original book, which can be viewed at the Gutenberg Project, a project to put on line books that have expired copyright dates, does show an African family and this was illustrated by the author, herself:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17824/17824-h/17824-h.htm
The book was originally published, written and illustrated in 1899 by Helen Bannerman, who was a Scot who lived for 30 years in Madras in southern India when she created this book. When you look at it, the original book definitely shows Sambo and his family as stereotyped black people from the southern slave states. Black Mumbo has a kerchief on her head and Black Jumbo wears a clothes typical of black men in the old south, (at least from pictures we have seen). Their features are also exaggerated. There are no Indian people in the original book.
Now all that being said, I see no overtly racist statements in the book, to be honest. The story is of a courageous little boy who has enough savvy to trade off his clothes to prevent being eaten, and then has the the wherewithal to take his clothes back when the tigers get in a tussle about who is the “grandest tiger” in the Jungle, after they’ve taken his clothes. The story shows the tiger’s ego ends up dissolving them into a butter (were it only so simple in real life).
So, unless I’m missing something, (and to the host here, the link to the provocative article in the Boston Globe doesn’t work), I really don’t see any racial disparagement in the story itself.
My suspicion is, that Ms. Bannerman may have had black servants who had a child who lived with her in India. My suspicion is also that she wrote the story for the child to allay his fear of tigers. Tigers are man-kilers in India, and it’s reasonable to be frightened of them (though taking off your clothes is unlikely to help if they are hunting you). But who knows what motivated Bannerman to write this book.
I think that some of the commenters here have read later additions of the book and so don’t know about the original version… It might be good to put a link to it, Ms. Kennedy.
If you had to read that book when you were young and brought up in the 50’s then think how would you feel? When African American people had the media and racist giving them a idenitity instead of being able to create their own! Would you like to be compared to this made up boy? Would you want to have tigers chasing you? There is a much deeper meaning to this book and maybe you need to do your research because this story is awful and needs to be banned just as the rest of the black face era was thank you very much!
I agree with the majority here. I had this book when I was little, and I was telling my children about it, so I went to look a copy of it up on the internet and all I get is the polictical B.S. about how bad the book was. Nonsense. People are way too sensitive and yes, how funny that the ones that complain are the ones cashing in this old keep sake.
People seriously need to get some perspective.
In some countries Sambo can be construed as a racist word. The story is great. It doesn’t give anybody an identity. It is fun. I bought it from Barnes and Noble last year. Original pictures and everything. My 2 year old son has me read it to him every night. He calls it the tiger book. It is very nostalgic for me. Nothing racist or derogatory about it.
I remember my grandmother reading this book to me over and over. I remember at one point I would read the words before she could get to them for I loved the simple story about a little boy in the woods eating pancakes
This was my all time favorite book when I was growing up in the 50’s. I grew up in a big city and I never heard of it being offensive until a few people who wanted to make a mountain out of a molehole in the 60’s, started this whole fiasco about it being racist. It was and still is a really cute story written for children. It’s the adults that blew it out of porportion. Get over it!