What would readers do if they went to the library to check out a book, only to find it wasn’t there? Not because it was already checked out, but because someone disagreed with its content and had it removed from the shelves.
That’s what’s happening with the comic series, Tintin in America. A Chapters bookstore and a public library in Winnipeg briefly pulled the Tintin books off the shelves last month in light of racist allegations.
The book’s cover features stereotypical images of Indigenous people in buckskin and a chief wielding an axe over his head while Tintin is tied to a pole in the background.
This isn’t the first time the 20th-century Belgian comics about an adventure-seeking young journalist, Tintin, have offended people. In 2010, a group in Belgium challenged Tintin in the Congo in court claiming it advanced racist attitudes towards Africans.
Although the Tintin books may depict certain racial stereotypes, out of sight, out of mind isn’t the best policy for what some may consider offensive literature.
Instead of censoring controversial books, they should be used as teachable moments. The Adventures of Tintin series was written in the early 1900s – a time when racial and cultural stereotypes were very prominent.
The books reflect the prejudices of the time, so it’s important that people today learn from them. Parents and teachers should be educating kids about the harms of racism and historical stereotypes in the books, so history doesn’t repeat itself.
“Erasing the books erases history,” says Alvin Schrader, chair of the Canadian Library Association’s intellectual freedom advisory committee. “It erases the reality of the past and it erases our potential to be aware of the way people used to think, making it even harder to understand today’s social problems and the attitudes and prejudice that were so engrained in those people.”
Tintin isn’t the only book being censored.
In 2010, the Canadian Library Association had 92 challenges against controversial books. One of which was Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was withdrawn from several schools because of the derogatory language towards African Americans. The novel is a staple of American history. It teaches students about racism and slavery in the 1800s. It’s the unfortunate truth that sometimes in society lessons must be learned the hard way.
Regardless, removing fictional characters isn’t going to combat racism. The focus should be on changing society’s values – not censoring books.
Reading Tintin, or other books containing racism, isn’t going to make someone racist. If someone is racist, it’s a result of prejudiced social attitiudes, so why not focus on the bigger picture?
Not only are learning opportunities lost when books are banned, but it also violates some of Canadians’ fundamental rights.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives Canadians the right to freedom of expression and freedom of speech and books are undoubtedly a part of this.
“The access to information and freedom of expression are the bedrock to every real democracy,” says Schrader.
Books inspire, entertain, advocate, and inform people about new ideas in the world around them. Censorship of age-old books limits these ideas. When a comic like Tintin is at risk of being banned, where does it end?