Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Anonymous
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Has anyone else been following the decision by the American Library Association's recent decision to purge the Wilder Award for Children's literature of any reference to Laura Ingalls Wilder?
If Laura Ingalls Wilder's accurate historical recounting of the pioneer experience is so offensive to the American Library Association that they feel that it is better to erase her as an author, what writers are next? How can any writers meet their "standards" of purity, and how long until the book banning, censorship and book burning begins? And yes before dcum asks, I am a minority defendant of immigrants who is from a nationality that was relocated and stripped of property by the federal government. Her stories, particularly the chapter in Little House on the Prairie that described her watching the forced relocation of the Indian tribes, were so poignant to me as a child, a teen and an adult. So simply written, they touched me and opened my eyes to a part of history in a way that made it come alive and made me ache for what was done to those native people. That book explained that part of history and all its complexities in a way that nothing else, including history books, could do for a child. The minstral show was troubling to me growing up, but it is an accurate portrayal of the racism of the times (20 +/- years after the Civil War). This contrasts with the only real African American person in the series, Dr. George Tan who single handedly saved the lives of the Ingalls family and all the settlers in that area when they were struck down with malaria. He is remembered and immortalized through Laura Ingalls Wilder's books as someone whose works changed literary history. Without these books, Dr. Tan might just have faded into history. Her writings are a treasure and a window to our past (the good, the bad, the amazing and the horrible) written in a way that is perfect for children. It is horrible that the people who should be the protectors of free expression are now the promoters of revising, censoring and whitewashing history. How do other parents feel about this decision? |
Anonymous
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^^^ And if you support this name purging, are you a parent who generally keeps a tight handle on what your kids are allowed to read and when they can read it?
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Anonymous
| Or are you a parent who feels that if they can decipher it, they can read it? |
Anonymous
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Those were my absolute favorite books. I think people are slaves (sorry!) to political correctness for fear of being ostracized/shut out.
The books were highly edited by Rose Wilder Lane, so blame her. |
Anonymous
| I do not agree with the white washing of history. We need to learn from our past to do better in the future. And I think the citations of her work used to make this change were absurd. |
Anonymous
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I haven’t been following. Is Caddie Woodlawn next? What about Tom Sawyer? All of these books have unfavorable portrayal of Indians/Native Americans. They are products of their time—they still have literary merit. It’s time to teach context.
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Anonymous
| The "offensive" portions of her books amounted to 2 chapters of probably 100. It was a sign of the times, a part of history. I am highly offended that people take such offense. |
Anonymous
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I think your explanation is a severe exaggeration. All they did was remove her name from the award as a result of some racist language that was consistent with the language of the era when the books were written (1930s), but inappropriate today, especially since the books are nonfiction. In no way has she been "purged as an author". The ALA has made it very clear that they still encourage people to read and discuss the books as an important part of American history.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/25/us/laura-ingalls-wilder-book-award-trnd/index.html |
Anonymous
| People! All they did was change the name of the award. Nobody is banning the books. Yeesh! |
Anonymous
OP here. One of their arguments (the main one) used to justify the removal of Laura's name from the award was that having her name on it was too exclusive towards minority children. As a former child of minority, government discriminated heritage, I find this argument absurd and insulting. Laura's depiction of history did not hurt me or make me less than. Her name did not make me feel not included. Her depiction of history made me stronger, more inquisitive, more interested in our past and more enlightened to where we failed and how far we came in just a short period of time, not only the time frame of the books but since the books were written. As a parent I just cannot wrap my head around how little regard the ALA has for the intelligence, kindness, resilience and discernment of our kids, especially our minority kids. |
Anonymous
This is the first step. They have sullied her name as something to be ashamed of, hidden away. They have implied that she is a racist, including retroactively removing he name from all the Wilder Awards already given including the first award that was given to Laura Ingalls Wilder This is clearly a purging of history. |
Anonymous
Oh please! Let me know when the portions of the books in the library have been redacted with black Sharpie. What do you care about some literary award that you have never heard of before today? |
Anonymous
You may have just heard of this award, but those of us who are literate and those of us who are parents who are interested in books, read to and with our children and who favor books as a worthwhile use of our children's minds are familiar with this and other literary awards. |
Anonymous
It's because of the attempts of the press to "scandalize" the situation, thereby slandering the name Laura Ingalls Wilder |
Anonymous
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Look!! You can still buy it on Amazon. Get it today before they ban it forever and history is PURGED.
https://www.amazon.com/Little-House-Volumes-Set/dp/0064400409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530154119&sr=8-1&keywords=laura+ingalls+wilder+books&dpID=41HlR6dLpjL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch |