National Book Award Winner, Jacqueline Woodson |
Woodson is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature for the book, "Brown Girl Dreaming". During the program, an insensitive joke was made by the master's of ceremonies that centered around a stereotype of watermelon and African-Americans. Since that time, Woodson has responded by writing an eloquent column in the New York Times which was also picked up by Time Magazine. Both posts are currently being circulated on social media during this holiday season and in my opinion has made online reading quite interesting.
The Pain of the Watermelon Joke by Jacqueline Woodson |
I know you are probably thinking, K.C. why are you so wound up about the comments of others? The reason why is, these comments represent the general thought or opinions of others. You see in today's technology driven society, it's easy to hide behind a computer or online name these days, so one can be their authentic self and express their views freely. The comments in my opinion were authentic and represent as a society, that there is still a lack of understanding of people from other races/cultures. These comments also are an indicator that we still have a long way to go.
After reading all of the press associated with Woodson's award, I also think about a heated argument I had with a librarian colleague about ten years ago. The argument centered around her lack of understanding about offensive books about people of color. I explained to her that when I was working at Kdg. - 8th grade school, I used to cringe when I read the book, "Five Little Monkey's Jumping on a Bed." This is a classic children's counting book that many of us are familiar with. What many don't realize in the earlier version, the book was called, "Ten Little Nigger Boys." The popular chant that is now known as "Five Little Monkeys" (also known as "Ten Little Monkeys or Ten Little Indians") used the "n word" plural or "darkies" as a reference for Black people instead of the word "monkey". Historically, the word "monkey" itself is a word which has also been used in the past and the present as an offensive reference for Indian and African American people.
http://weneeddiversebooks.org |
Me Sitting Behind the Circulation Desk |
She is an American treasure and we should treat and celebrate her as such.
References
Dwyer, C., (November, 2014)
Daniel Handler Apologizes For Jokes At National Book Awards
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/21/365707391/book-news-daniel-handler-apologizes-for-jokes-at-national-book-awards
Frizell, S., (November, 2014)
Jacqueline Woodson Responds to Racist Watermelon Joke
http://time.com/3610303/jacqueline-woodson-watermelon-racist-joke-lemony-snicket-daniel-handler-national-book-awards/
Frizell, S., (November, 2014)
Children’s Author Helps Raise Thousands After Racist Remark
http://time.com/3601099/daniel-handler-lemony-snicket-racist-remark/
Gates, H. L. (July, 2014)
The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African American Literary Criticism
Oxford University
Harvey, R., (February, 1997)
Don't Judge Hearn Merely by Latest Slip of Tongue
Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/1997-02-06/sports/sp-26020_1_chick-hearn
We Need Diverse Books
http://weneeddiversebooks.org/
Woodson, J., (November, 2014)
The Pain of the Watermelon Joke
New York Times
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/opinion/the-pain-of-the-watermelon-joke.html