Is Little Black Sambo really controversial?

[brendan1104]

Is this story really that controversial?

[img]http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/13/250px-LittleBlackSamboCover.jpg[/img]

[quote]Once upon a time there was a little black boy, and his name was Little Black Sambo.

And his mother was called Black Mumbo.

And his father was called Black Jumbo.

And Black Mumbo made him a beautiful little Red Coat, and a pair of
beautiful little Blue Trousers.

And Black Jumbo went to the Bazaar and bought him a beautiful Green Umbrella and a lovely little Pair of Purple Shoes with Crimson Soles and Crimson Linings.

And then wasn't Little Black Sambo grand?

So he put on all his Fine Clothes and went out for a walk in the
Jungle.

And by and by he met a Tiger. And the Tiger said to him, "Little
Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!"[/quote]

[Resurrexi]

I guess it's not.

[Pontifite 7 of 10]

It dosn't make any sence!

[Resurrexi]

It's kind of stupid really.

[desertwoman]

Yes, it is very contraversal and it is still hated in the African American community.

[Extra ecclesiam nulla salus]

i thought sambo was an ethnic slur for Black people.

[brendan1104]

i think it came from little black sambo... personally i think its a really funny story...

[quote name='Extra ecclesiam nulla salus' post='1042296' date='Aug 12 2006, 10:25 PM']
i thought sambo was an ethnic slur for Black people.
[/quote]

[Resurrexi]

Why is it so funny? There's no point to it.

[desertwoman]

[img]http://www.walloworld.com/images/sambo.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i3.ebayimg.com/03/i/06/01/c5/60_2.JPG[/img]

The drawings of black sambo, and the other stories of sambo are very condencing and portray African Americans to be stupid and slow.

The drawings alone represent black face, and it is a very hurtfull thing to see. Mexcio got in trouble not to long ago for having these drawings in a comic strip run in the newspaper.

My parents still remember little black sambo and are still hurt by what the character stood for to them.

[missionseeker]

So basically it's saying that African Americans even though they are legally given the same rights as white(?) Americans shouldn't be because they are actually not intelligent enough? And it's all just a show that they are????

[desertwoman]

Basically. There are still people here that believe in that, especially in the South. I had a professor in my College....College that said that the dumbest white person is smarter than your brightest black person and he stood by it. The sad thing is is that he was telling this to his fellow workers, and many workers had to leave because of his ignorance.

This is why I work my behind off. All through school, teachers pitied me and say me as a special case for I come from humble beginnings, so they have to give an extra curve so to speak when I enter the class. But when I begin to ask questions and challenge them, then things begin to change.

I can't stand it.

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

I can see why it is considered offensive.

[Resurrexi]

I can't. Would you care if they made a story about little white Sambo? I wouldn't.

Edited August 13, 2006 by StThomasMore

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

[quote name='StThomasMore' post='1042570' date='Aug 13 2006, 11:23 AM']
I can't. Would you care if they made a story about little white Sambo? I wouldn't.
[/quote]
Personally no, but I do not think that means it's to be dismissed as harmless.

[passionheart]

[quote name='StThomasMore' post='1042570' date='Aug 13 2006, 11:23 AM']
I can't. Would you care if they made a story about little white Sambo? I wouldn't.
[/quote]

I think you would care if that story became the symbol the represented YOU and Your people. The point your missing and is that for me as a black woman the word was used as a racial slur. It is the symbol (and by the way it isn't just people in the American South that has embraced this stereotype)

So my friend who would feel is everything you are is filtered through symbols such as this? That means and that no matter what you do is will be perceived as less or not as good. My family is Jamaican and my father always said that we have to do things twice as hard to be respected.

My LIVED experience is that he is right. I noticed it in school that I had to prove that I wasn't a stupid. My favourite line was after babysitting for a couple who were from N. Ireland that of course I have accepted that I was a second class citizen.

My friend, I think you would care.