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Old July 19th, 2007 #1
dogman
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Default Complaint stirs racist-book storm

Complaint stirs racist-book storm

19 July 2007
EDITORIAL - [email protected]

David Enright and his Ghanaianb-born wife Gifty ""This book should not be marketted at children

A FATHER of two mixed-race boys was outraged when he was told by a bookseller that it was okay to continue selling a racist Tintin book to children.

David Enright, aged 40, of Blake Close, St Albans, was amazed to find the cartoon book, Tintin in the Congo, which depicts black African people as intellectually and socially inferior to white people, in the children's section of Borders book shop in London Colney.

He complained to the shop manager who passed the complaint on to Borders head office. He also made a complaint to Herts police who logged the sale of the book as a racist incident.

The head of risk management at Borders later wrote to Mr Enright, a human rights lawyer in London, saying that they would continue to sell the book which has a warning sticker about its offensive contents on its wrapper.

But it had been removed from the children's section of Borders shops and would now be for sale in the adult graphic section only.

Several other booksellers have taken the same steps and the complaint has snowballed into intense debate in the media about whether or not the book should be sold. As a result, sales have risen 4,000 per cent.

The book at the centre of the storm was written in 1931 by the Belgian cartoonist Herge when the Congo was still ruled by Belgium. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is now calling for its removal from all shelves because it is so offensive to black people.

Mr Enright's wife, Gifty, comes from Ghana and they have two boys, Tady, aged seven, and Finn, two. Mr Enright said: "I was absolutely aghast when I opened the book. It has grossly-offensive depictions of black people resembling monkeys, so stupid they cannot learn how to add up.

"I oppose the banning of books and there is a place for specialist material but this book should not be marketed at children."

Mrs Enright said: "Children are so impressionable and material like this should be explained to them in its proper context.

"Perhaps it could have a place on a university course explaining the period in which it was written but certainly not on the children's section of a book shop.

"What would our two mixed-race children think if they read that they were inferior people?

"The worst part is that Borders initially defended the decision to have the book for sale in the children's section."

A spokesman for Borders said the company believed in the basic right of its customers to choose what they want to read, listen to and buy. He added: "Our customers enjoy exploring all types of books, music and movies.

"Naturally, some of the thousands of books and music selections we carry could be considered controversial or objectionable depending on individual political views, tastes and interests. However Borders stands by its commitment to let customers make the choice. After consideration of this title, we have instructed all stores to move it to the adult graphic novels section."

The author Herge admitted in a biography, Entretiens avec Herge, that in the book he was expressing the prejudiced views of the Belgian middle classes on Africans and said that if he were to write it again he would have done things differently.

l Should the Tintin book have been on sale to children? Have your say on our website at www.hertsad.co.uk

http://www.hertsad.co.uk/content/her...A03%3A26%3A210
 
Old July 19th, 2007 #2
psychologicalshock
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Looks like he caught a gorilla there... Or did it catch him?
 
Old July 19th, 2007 #3
Live Free
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Accurate depictions of niggers are always offensive to niggers and nigger lovers. Such depictions must be banned. Wouldn't want the truth to get to White kids, ya know.
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Old July 20th, 2007 #4
Zenos
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That picture looks like he's showing off a prize farm animal, look at the blank expression on her face. He's throwing a fit because he knows deep down she's not his equal, and she knows it too, so he over compensates to prove to himself he's actually married to a human.
 
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