I think Bo is reffering to the "Pink Vote" which apparantly is very strong in Manchester and a group he appears interested in.

( nice membership card and rituals by all accounts )

Ahhh....

This mob?

Ahhh....

This mob?

Yes that's him, the one in the shorts !!!!!

Like i said lack of empathy. UG doesn't know any black people who are offended by it therefore no black people are offended by it. hmmm ok

Sorry, that is not right. Almost any black person - or anyone else - would be offended by being called anything that is considered an insult - including words that were made up on the spot such as a hammerhead or a slog. The crime is the people who banned an innocent book and made it into an BIG insult in the first place. Black people are not offended by the book, they are offended by people who use it to abuse them and getting rid of the book has not made the insult go away.

I'm waiting for "The Wit and Wisdom of George Bush" to be published so I can campaign to have it banned.

Ahhh....

This mob?

No, I said "Pinkish" that's way too Pink for me. Kayo might like that one though

The problem with rules is that there will always be the borderline cases that just trip over the line but for which a good case can be made. Because it is human nature to push the limits once you allow a little fexibility you find you may as well trash the rule.

There are rules to which a tolerance factor can be applied, for example police pretty well everywhere turn a blind eye to speeds up to 10% over the limit. But with something like an insult you can't be 10% insulting, it's either an insult or it's not. Then there's tone of voice and context to be considered. Sure the word Sambo is innocuous enough in it's own right but out of the mouths of certian individuals, in a certain tone or context it becomes a thinly veiled insult. So unfortunately the rules have to be set according to the lowest common denominator.

Ban a classic children's book?

Is it actually banned? I saw it for sale on Amazon.

Sambo was Indian rather than African. His mother was Black Mumbo and his father was Black Jumbo.

"The setting of Bannerman's story was in India — as can be seen by the presence of tigers and the reference to ghee. The book's original illustrations show a Sambo character resembling a golliwog, a European version sometimes viewed as an iconic, racist "darky" stereotype, which could be taken as a stereotype of African people. As the book made its way across the Atlantic to the U.S., the illustrations were adapted to the possibly more obvious stereotype known as blackface in the U.S. At this time, the racism of the term was not overt or hostile. But the unconscious racism evident in the blackface stereotype was clear. When the eventual public uproar brought the issue to the attention of the general public, some renounced the use of the term "Sambo," but others embraced it as a racial slur.[citation needed] Thus, the use of "Sambo" as a racist term went from being unintentional to being open and derogatory."

"xamples of "Sambo" as a common slave name can be found as far back as the 18th century. In Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair (serialised from 1847), the black servant of the Sedley family from Chapter One, is called Sambo. Similarly, in Harriet Beecher Stowe's controversial novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), one of Simon Legree's overseers is named Sambo. Instances of it being used as a stereotypical name for African Americans can be found as early as the Civil War. Thus, the generalization problem — Bannerman, a Scot living in India, gave an Indian character a name associated, in the U.S., with African slaves. The name does not seem to have acquired the intentional, open racist connotation until the first half of the 20th century — possibly in defiance of protests made by African Americans."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_(ethnic_slur)

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/picaninny/

Julius Lester, who has recently co-authored Sam and the Tigers, an updated Afrocentric version of Little Black Sambo, wrote:

"When I read Little Black Sambo as a child, I had no choice but to identify with him because I am black and so was he. Even as I sit here and write the feelings of shame, embarrassment and hurt come back. And there was a bit of confusion because I liked the story and I especially liked all those pancakes, but the illustrations exaggerated the racial features society had made it clear to me represented my racial inferiority -- the black, black skin, the eyes shining white, the red protruding lips. I did not feel good about myself as a black child looking at those pictures.13"

esp. when they go on & on & on & on about the same particular topic like a broken record

Edit for emoticon

I've still got my golliwog badge somewhere. Got it when i was about 5 or 6.

Is it actually banned? I saw it for sale on Amazon.

Little Black Sambo has been banned in a lot of places, but not everywhere. There are a few sensible people left out there.

Why Ban "Little Black Sambo"?

Feb 27 '01

The Bottom Line Censorship is not very helpful, since the censor also has prejudices. It is much better to have critical debate on books which are of questionable value.

Little Black Sambo is just one of my childhood favourites which will not be on any school library's

shelves nowadays. This is one book which many people consider racist, but is it?

"Little Black Sambo" is the story of a black boy who has a

new outfit and meets a tiger in the jungle who wants his

new clothes for himself. So Little Black Sambo takes off

all his clothes one by one and the tigers put them on. Then

when there are no clothes left, the tigers argue as to who

is the grandest. They chase after each other until all that's left is a pool of grease which Little Black Sambo

takes home. His mother cooks pancakes for all the family

with the ghee and everyone is happy.

So which part of this book is racist? The title? According

to my dictionary, Sambo is a nickname for negro, and

perhaps it does have derogatory racial overtones nowadays,

but I would argue that this was not the writer's intention.

Just as my great aunt used the term, "coloured" as a

courtesy title for black people, this term has totally

fallen out of favour.

So, the book is banned because of the title. Certainly,

to me it's a tale of covetousness and greed, of scary

wild animals and happy family times. It has all the

ingredients of a good story - suspense, strong plot

and the illustrations are bold and colorful.

And I wonder how many other books are banned because of

a tiny part which is not acceptable nowadays. I certainly

would hate to go back to the days where there is

discrimination on racial grounds, but books must be

seen in the context they were written in, and if there

are parts which need to be explained, then explain - don't

just ban.

When books are banned, it often gives them more publicity,

and then books of questionable quality may get more

prominence than they deserve. Who isn't intrigued by the

forbidden?

As a librarian, I stand for free access to all kinds of

materials. I remember a friend telling me that he asked

for a biography of Casanova and the librarian told his

wife who was working in the library that he must be

a pervert, when in fact he was doing legitimate research.

One of the great things about my own school days was the

excellent libraries which I experienced. And, interestingly

enough, I learnt a lot about the "facts of life" from

the "Children's Encyclopaedia Britannica"! I can just see

that being banned...

http://www.epinions.com/content_958570628

What is all this hoopla about?

Little Black Sambo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Story of Little Black Sambo, a children's book by Helen Bannerman, a Scot who lived for 30 years in Madras in southern India, was first published in London in 1899. (An American edition of the book was illustrated by Florence White Williams.) In the tale, an Indian boy named Sambo prevails over a group of hungry tigers. The little boy has to give his colourful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella to four tigers so they will not eat him. Sambo recovers the clothes when the jealous, conceited tigers chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of delicious melted butter. The story was a children's favourite for half a century, but then became controversial due to the use of the word sambo, a racial slur in some countries.

Modern versions

In 1996, noted illustrator Fred Marcellino observed that the story itself contained no racist overtones and produced a re-illustrated version, The Story of Little Babaji, which changes the characters' names but otherwise leaves the text unmodified. This version was a best-seller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo

esp. when they go on & on & on & on about the same particular topic like a broken record

Edit for emoticon

Maybe you should start a support group: "Coalition for the endangered snarky comment over substance."

What is all this hoopla about?

Little Black Sambo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Story of Little Black Sambo, a children's book by Helen Bannerman, a Scot who lived for 30 years in Madras in southern India, was first published in London in 1899. (An American edition of the book was illustrated by Florence White Williams.) In the tale, an Indian boy named Sambo prevails over a group of hungry tigers. The little boy has to give his colourful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella to four tigers so they will not eat him. Sambo recovers the clothes when the jealous, conceited tigers chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of delicious melted butter. The story was a children's favourite for half a century, but then became controversial due to the use of the word sambo, a racial slur in some countries.

Modern versions

In 1996, noted illustrator Fred Marcellino observed that the story itself contained no racist overtones and produced a re-illustrated version, The Story of Little Babaji, which changes the characters' names but otherwise leaves the text unmodified. This version was a best-seller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo

Well, as it is mentioned elsewhere in your own link, the "hoopla" wasn't with the story, but with the illustrated caricutures. It used racial physical stereotypes that were intended to connote racial inferiority, and helped further encourage the use of "picaninny" cartoons and offensive minstrel shows in the early 20th Century. The term Sambo was formerly used as a name for male slaves, but increasingly became infused with hostility and condenscension as black people started to object to the term and the caricurtures. Acceptance of the racially-charged illustrations and term also gave the false illusion to other cultures that it was socially acceptable to portray black people as sambos, such as in Japan during the 1980s. When the the illustrations and title was changed in revised versions of the book, there was no longer a problem.

I think this thread needs to be moved to the more serious "out of the box" section.

Sambo was Indian rather than African. His mother was Black Mumbo and his father was Black Jumbo.

Is this picture offensive? It looks like a dark skinned, Indian child and that is about it.

If they were hurtful, get rid of the "offensive" illustrations. Don't ban the book!

The book doesn't appear to have been banned, it's available in several online book stores.

I agree with not banning it completely but if schools wish to do so they should be allowed to.

Personally I can see that a black child may find it embarrassing and it could be a trigger for racist insults in the classroom.

Children can be the least politically correct of us all.

esp. when they go on & on & on & on about the same particular topic like a broken record

Edit for emoticon

Maybe you should start a support group: "Coalition for the endangered snarky comment over substance."

Maybe you should take a chill pill

The book doesn't appear to have been banned, it's available in several online book stores.

I agree with not banning it completely but if schools wish to do so they should be allowed to.

Books are only banned in certain places, not worldwide. Maybe Tony Blair could pull it off though!

He's too busy polishing the new Medal of Freedom his mate Bushy just gave him.

He's too busy polishing the new Medal of Freedom his mate Bushy just gave him.

Or maybe he's sitting back admiring the progress of his "Peace in the Middle East" programme.

The book doesn't appear to have been banned, it's available in several online book stores.

I agree with not banning it completely but if schools wish to do so they should be allowed to.

Books are only banned in certain places, not worldwide. Maybe Tony Blair could pull it off though!

Is it banned in the USA?

If so, is it banned in schools or nationwide?

I did a google and there were quite a few copies of the book for sale on ebay and the like.

Yes, it is banned in the USA, but I am not sure if that would include every State and every County. I am guessing that any Federally funded library - including schools - would not allow it to be displayed and most State funded ones.

banned books

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many societies have banned certain books. This is a partial list of books that have been banned at a national or state level. Some books may be challenged at a local level, and removed from local or school libraries as a result; examples of such from the United States can be found at List of most commonly challenged books in the U.S.

Various scriptures have been banned (and sometimes burned) at several points in history. For example, the Bible, the Qur'an, and other religious scriptures have all been subjected to censorship and have been banned in various cities and countries. In Medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church created a program that lasted until 1966 to deal with dissenting printed opinion; it was called the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books). Over the years many books based on the scriptures have also been banned, such as Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You, which was banned in Russia for being anti-establishment.

Books deemed critical of the state or its interests are another common target for banning.

Books that present criminal matters have also been subjected to censorship. Small-press titles that have become infamous by being banned include The Anarchist Cookbook and Hit Man.

Children's books that deal with death or other teenage angst or various crimes often find themselves challenged perhaps because of parental worries about teenage suicide or copycat crimes. Many publications are targeted on the premise that children would be corrupted by reading them. This fear led to the creation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954.

For list of banned books and where they are banned:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...p;action=submit

Didn't "Banned in Boston" used to be a highly prized sticker to put on your book cover or movie poster?

He's too busy polishing the new Medal of Freedom his mate Bushy just gave him.

Little Johnny Howard is to get one also!