A Green answers “I am wondering about the scene with the...”

Melissa asked this question about Call It Courage:

I am wondering about the scene with the cannibals on the island, who are called "savage" and "black." Do you think this part is racist?

A Green Yes. This is a book that gave me solace as a scared child and still encourages me as an adult in doing brave things, but each time I read it as an adu…moreYes. This is a book that gave me solace as a scared child and still encourages me as an adult in doing brave things, but each time I read it as an adult I also notice the author's extreme stereotypical depiction of savage and fearsome and bloodthirsty African "natives," with both their skin color and their culture exaggerated to the extreme in order to represent the opposite of the author's civilized color and culture, and presumably that of the protagonist, a 12-year-old Polynesian boy. (Also, the depiction of the young protagonist on the front cover is that of a Caucasian boy wearing a bathing suit!)(less)

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