Race and Censorship

[Becky Pasco <Rebecca_Pasco/COE/UNO/UNEBR@UNOMAIL.UNOMAHA.EDU>]

Friends,

I was wondering if anyone had run into a good article/piece of writing about
censorship in terms of racist language when it appears in a work.  I have lots
of material addressing other issues which attract censors/chanllenges such as
violence and sexuality, etc. , but the issue of racist language seems to not be
in recent (late 90s) journals.  Several books have come under fire because of
the use of terminology which is offensive to specific groups, but I can't find
discussions about it in any professional journals.  I've seen challenges to
books which used dated or racist terms in the text, challenged even when they
were included or written by a member of the same race/ethnic group/cultural
group (i.e. objections by several African American groups to The Well by Mildren
Taylor in which the n____ word is used by whites in the book).

I'd like some perspectives from my peers.  I try very hard to be a sensitive,
reflective practitioner and I have always worked in a very diverse
school/community.  I have had different replies to this same question from each
individual/group I approach about it.  I struggle with what to do and think
about the inclusion of racist/bigoted terms which show up in award-winning books
yearly.   I know that people defend them because of historical accuracy, intent,
etc.   Thanks for thinking with me about this.  I'd love some good citations to
use in my young adult and children's literature classes to get them ready to
address this issue too.

-------------

Dr. R. J. (Becky) Pasco
Assistant Professor, College of Education
Library Science/Educational Media
Kayser Hall 314E
Omaha, NE  68182
(w)402-554-2119
(h) 402-423-4312
(f) 402-554-3744
rpasco@unomaha.edu

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