Comments on: what’s the real story behind Brooklyn Public’s removal of TinTin from the shelves?

By: Martyn Lowe

Martyn Lowe — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:19:50 +0000

Unlike a lot of other people who might comment upon this issue: I’ve read this book.

What struck me is that the book reflects many of the attitudes which were around at the time it was published, which included an uncritical support for any form of imperialism.

It also contains so called ‘humour’ which is very specist in nature.
e.g. while going hunting,
or in how they use a gorila skin.

If you really want to get Herge in full flow, then try reading Tintin in the soviet, which was published in 1929. That really does contain some very right wing and specist humour.

All of which is totally unacceptable.

Yet so is any form of censorship unacceptable.

If one is to look at these tintin books, then one should look at them within their historical context.

It’s like looking at leg-irons within a museum.
No one would ever advocate their use, but we should all know what went on in the past.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:13:18 +0000

“… the patron address was not blocked out on the book Anti-Einstein …” — Melissa #6

The ADL was submitting the form on behalf of someone who called them. The address is for the ADL’s New York regional office, and it can be found online.

http://documents.nytimes.com/how-brooklyn-public-library-has-responded-to-book-challenges#p=5

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:06:19 +0000

Well, the person writing about the book Anti-Einstein was acting on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that should understand the evils of censorship!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:30:53 +0000

Did you notice that the patron address was not blocked out on the book Anti-Einstein? I would be very upset to see my name and address published on a blog for anyone to read.

By: Auntie Nanuuq

Auntie Nanuuq — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:04:33 +0000

Shades of “Little Black Sambo”…who happened to be Indian from India, not African from Africa!

By: Rhonda

Rhonda — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:30:33 +0000

Huh. I have a young patron who is totally enamored with the TinTin books. Maybe they are like the really old cartoons that had images now considered racist. But that’s not what I carried away from those cartoons as a child, it’s the adults who read all that stuff in. I guess it’s good to take that second look and make adjustments but sometimes we cause more problems with the reaction, like they have here with publishing the names.

By: Michael Golrick

Michael Golrick — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:22:18 +0000

The redaction and limits may be reflective of New York State law on the confidentiality of patron records. I can understand how some of that could be applied if there is not a specific disclaimer on the complaint form that the full information will be made public.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:57:22 +0000

I was also trying to figure this out – to the point I pointed out the article in a library wide email marked FYE – and asked outright: “Just out of curiousity — do book challenges become public record? I’m a bit surprised the patrons names weren’t blacked out.” (I only wish I had been awake enough to have used the word “redacted,” but alas I am not that cool.

I still haven’t received a response — but it seems odd that you can’t disclose circulation records — and yet this is pretty much an indication that this person checked out this book.

By: Privacy, Censorship, and Good Records Management: Brooklyn Public Library in the Crosshairs — thesecretmirror.com

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:52:43 +0000

[...] at librarian.net, Jessamyn West has a brief write up about a post on the New York Times' City Room blog about placing access restrictions on offensive [...]