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It’s not about being PC, at all; it’s about being offensive. And, as a Black woman, I find this book to be very offensive. It doesn’t matter if Sambo was supposed to represent an Indian boy; the imagery used is typical among those created to stereotype and mock Blacks. Also, what the hell is “true racism”? (And if you have to quote from a dictionary, then you’ve never lived it.)

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Understand?

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Here are a couple images of Africans from a Chinese cartoon called something like “The Brave Little Girls and the Crocodile.” I’d say they are pretty cute. Interestingly, their clothing looks like Chinese minority people’s:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58285552@N00/368008706/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58285552@N00/368006252/

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Now in regard to the later half of your post, I don’t think we can really arrive at a definite conclusion, but here are my thoughts. It’s certainly possible for a group of people to culturally re-appropriate a word or image to suit their own (and often opposite) views, and it’s been done numerous times before with varying degrees of success. However, I think when it comes to racially-charged words and imagery, the job becomes significantly more difficult. Case in point(coincidentally): swapping the word “nigger” with “nigga” in an attempt to subvert the hateful meaning of the former. Now that it has worked itself so thoroughly into the U.S. popular culture and produced more tangible results, the ultimate success of this movement is now debatable. There are legitimate and reasonable arguments on both sides of the issue, but for the purpose of our Little Black Sambo discussion, I’m just going to mention one of the opposing views. Essentially, a number of people are saying that though the subverted term is not (as) offensive to blacks, it is still mimicking the original term very, very closely and because of this, the original term essentially receives significantly more exposure leads some to become more comfortable using it in its original context. Again, this is debatable, but I feel it applies to the Little Black Sambo products. It may be true that Little Black Sambo is intelligent and the character is good and his design does make him kinda cute, but there’s no denying that he’s shown as a well-known racist stereotype and no matter how positive a spin you give him, he will still hearken back to that meaning. Now, if everyone could accept this new spin and somehow lay waste to the old meaning, then I think we could have success. Cultural re-appropriation of this magnitude HAS happened before and will happen again, but when it comes to racially-charged terms and imagery, there is just so much underlying baggage that many will have a very hard time accepting an apple as anything other than an apple.

Lastly, you asked whether all stereotypes are racist and whether or not some degree of stereotyping is necessary for easy cultural identification (especially in this situation). This is a massive can of worms that I don’t think we can or should try to effectively debate on this website as there is simply too much to handle all at once. However, I will agree with you in the belief that SOME degree of stereotyping is necessary when making any sort of caricature (such is the nature of a caricature), but even then there are limits and one should tread delicately as the stereotypes start to add up. In the case of these Little Black Sambo trinkets this is not what happened as the designers went all-out with the stereotypes. This could have easily been avoided had they simply eliminated or toned down a few features such as lighter skin instead of the “jungle savage” pitch-black, gotten rid of the bright red minstrel lips, etc. Hell, I remember the post here on Japan Probe about two weeks ago featuring the year’s major news events in doll form and there was a Billy Blanks doll that was perfectly fine. It was obviously Blanks, kinda cute, and didn’t have to use stereotypes as a visual crutch.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on this thread for more than my share, so I think I’ll take a break for a while and let the servers recover. Very interesting issue, this one…

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I wasn’t actually referring to using Huck Finn in schools (though that is certainly one area of controversy). Certainly it can be put into context there. But I was thinking of just going to a library and reading it, like I did. However you do raise an interesting point, that of context. In Japan these images simply have no context, either good or bad. The Japanese are aware enough of the stereotype of Africans-big lips (just like “Europeans=big noses) to recognise them as African, but are such stereotypes necessarily racist? They play up phenotypical stereotypes definitely, for the sake of easy identification, but I think racism has a more political intent than just cartoonish representation. There is usually a negative prejudice in there as well – in this case, for example, “big lips=bad/ugly”. If the Japanese see LBS as ugly or in some ways a figure of fun due to his appearance, then we have a problem, but he sells because he’s cute, no? In other words, his African features become a positive aspect of the character.

To look at the problem from another angle, how should a cartoonish doll of an African be portrayed?

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Anyway, it -is- racially insensitive, and it seems obvious to westerners, but the average Japanese peson have probably never learned that the gollywog imagery is offensive to black people. The majority probably just think that Sambo is a cute character, and don’t think at all about race or cultural insensitivity.

I don’t agree with Debito.org’s “Little Yellow Jap” thing at ALL though. They’re trying to educate Japanese people who like Sambo the wrong way — by being extremely inflammatory. Not that I expected any more from Debito *eyeroll*, but still. If people truly wants Japanese people to understand -why- Sambo is insulting to black people, they should explain it in a historical context first, starting all the way back from the triangular trade.

What Inoue said is really, really stupid, though.

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Why indeed?

I was once asked for my passport at the New Hankyu in Osaka, despite writing down a Japanese address (in Japanese). So when they nervously showed me the letter of the law, I merely pointed out the bit where it said “does not have an address in Japan” and then pointed out my address in Japan, and that was an end of it. One other place asked me when I checked in, and I said no, I live in Japan, and they were fine with that. Both places were frequented by foreign tourists, so were probably operating on automatic.

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I don’t know if it’s stupidity, insensitivity, mental laziness or just plain racist, period. Heck, maybe all of the above.

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Actually, I consider that a good thing. Aside from the Zainichi, you don’t have masses of people searching out ways to be “offended”. Folks here are able to see a caricature for what it is, and keep that separate from reality.

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He is also completely oblivious to the fact that any “discrimination” that occurs in his presence is less because he is “foreign” and much more because people simply can’t stand him.

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Now I agree with you on your point that when it comes to racism, there are many gray areas that are tricky to address and that the issue of “who decides what is offensive and what is not” is also an important issue because there are certainly people out there who tend to overreact to EVERY little thing (I almost always find myself arguing against these people). However, I also believe that there are instances that are much more clean-cut, that would offend even the most sensible members of the target group, and I personally believe that these products fall into this category as they portray a black caricature that has been denounced as “racist” for decades. Again, I’m not talking about the original illustrations, but the novelty products that are being sold in Japan.

I will also admit that I am not fully aware of how popular these stories may be in Japan, but I would not be surprised in the least if many people who were sporting “Little Black Sambo” phone straps and buttons were doing so because they thought they looked cool and ended up having absolutely no understanding of the meaning (cue: all clothing products containing English text). But let’s assume for the sake of argument that everyone buying these products is very familiar with the original story: They would still be promoting the old image of the pitch-black-faced, red-lipped man from Africa whether they were aware of it or not. Basically these products have done the equivalent of taking the word “n*gger,” putting it on a phone strap using cute, pink, bubble lettering with a heart over the “i” and sticking a pitch-black Hello Kitty at the end. It’s cute, it’s referencing a beloved character, but it’s still racist as hell.

This finally brings me to the issues of intent and Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is an amazing book that I believe should still be among many required school readings. While it DOES unfortunately use certain terms that were more accepted at the time like you said, such an issue should be (and almost always is) addressed in the classroom so that young readers don’t misinterpret the author’s intent. However, the racism is all presented within a very specific context (within the book) whereas the “Little Black Sambo” novelty items are not because the original illustrations you presented do not possess this particular racist issue to begin with (Sambo being Indian in the stories). What we DO have are products that are presenting the general public with the iconic black minstrel wearing a loincloth while encouraging them to promote said image by popularizing it as another cute character. The difference between Tom Sawyer and Little Black Sambo here is that Tom Sawyer is not being promoted with trinkets depicting its racism. Just imagine the Sambo products except replace the words “Little Black Sambo” and the tigers with “N*gger Jim” and a raft and see if that’d fly with the public.

Anyway, I’ll admit again that I’m not 100% up-to-date with this issue and I’m sure there are some logical errors somewhere in the above text, so I’d be more than happy to hear any more well-mannered criticisms or rebuttals.

[And before anyone says it, I am aware that the term "n*gger Jim" never appears in Tom Sawyer and that it's actually "Jim the n*gger," so let's put that one to rest early.]

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I agree. That’s just as doinky as when he linked to that “No Olympics for Japan” page.

As for the issue at hand, I agree with Ponta in that America and Japan do not share the same history in regards to black people. For many Americans, such imagery is offensive because it is linked to the many acts of racism against black people in the past (segregation, lynchings, etc), while Japan does not have this same view because they didn’t have that history of persecution of black people.

Though it’s worth noting that there are some groups in Japan (such as Kokujin Sabetsu o Nakusu Kai http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%92%E4%BA%BA%E5%B7%AE%E5%88%A5%E3%82%92%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8F%E3%81%99%E4%BC%9A)
that understand the offensiveness. Little Black Sambo has only been reprinted relatively recently (it was out of print for several years).

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I don’t have any major issues with the existence of these products, or even with Rats and Star. When I’m confronted with it, I usually feel like it’s kind of quaint…
But also, I’m reasonably aware of the issues and history that surround the “golliwog” style imagery, and I think that anyone that makes a decision that associates them with that imagery should be aware of the background, too.
Especially with the current level of knowledge-enabling technology, you deserve any criticism coming to you if you decide you enjoy Sambo purely based on reading this book.

I’ll also add that I think the existence of the book here is a potential enabler of discussion and awareness about racism, if say, anyone who chooses to buy the book or products decides to further research the character.

What bores me about the way this imagery occurs in Japan is the lack of audacity required to associate oneself with it.

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I am also curious about whether the illustrations of LBS look as ugly as the Debito’s Little Yellow Jap in Westerner’s eye.

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I think it’s no problem if debito’s racist book “Little yellow Jap” is “Little yellow Taro” with lovely illustrations like the Little black Sambo.
(Debito’s illustrations are just full of hatred)

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What I find strange is that he puts them up on his website for all to see. It’s all there – from admitting he almost never reads Japanese for pleasure to telling the world he is going to quit his job as they don’t agree with him about what “academic freedom” means. Everything from getting angry with some clerk to being estranged from his own parents….

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Racism has two sides: the intent to cause offence, and the offence felt. Speech intended to cause offence is obviously not something that should be encouraged on its own merits. It was supposed to be nasty at the time. Speech that was acceptable at the time and is now deemed unacceptable is a tricky issue. Who decides what is offensive and what is not?

There is also the possibility of the argument that since there are so few blacks in Japan that the harm done is less, there being fewer people to be offended by it. I am not necessarily advancing that argument myself, but it does fit in with the need for “people to be offended” part of the previous paragraph.

Mont: Little Black Sambo is available on the web in its original illustrated UK edition:
http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/sambo.htm
The illustrations (and the text) make it clear that despite the African-sounding (Swahili, in the case of Jumbo) names, LBS is Indian.

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If what you say about the background story is true, I’m still troubled by the fact that such a racist caricature is being sold as a novelty item – especially in a country whose media/entertainment industry often represent blacks as dull-witted or as minstrels. Yes, there are plenty of exceptions (Billy Blanks probably being one of the more recent), but the fact that such blatant racism still exists and is shown to be accepted in many forms of media puts these items in a more problematic light in my opinion. But that’s just my opinion on the matter and I’m certainly open to rebuttals.

Oh, and one last thing: whether or not these items are actually “racist in intent” doesn’t mean that they can’t be racist at all. “The Birth of a Nation” was never intended to be a racist film according to its director, D.W. Griffith, but the fact remains that it is one of the most racist films ever created in the history of film. A technologically astounding film, yes, but its portrayal of evil and greedy blacks defeated by the heroic Ku Klux Klan is equally astounding.

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but picking the american version along with sambo is clearly inflammatory for some, and I think it’s fair enough that people should raise the issue.

nevertheless, check out debito’s response as a way *not* to solve an issue. “you have offended me, so let me offend you even more.” – when does this kind of approach ever, ever work? what happened to taking the higher ground? debito’s comic is just plain embarassing.

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