Several classic children’s books will now come with a “trigger warning” at the Cambridge University archive due to “harmful content relating to slavery, colonialism and racism.”
The new mission is partially being funded by a grant of £80,633 in taxpayer money from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, according to the Daily Mail. It is being administered in collaboration with the University of Florida and has received funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities in the U.S.
This list reportedly includes Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the 1935 book “Little House on the Prairie,” for “stereotypical depictions of Native Americans.”
Charles Kingsley’s novel, “The Water Babies,” is also on the list for potential to “harm readers without warning” with comments on Black people and people of Irish descent. “Dr Seuss” books feature on the list for its “overt blackface” and other offenses, while “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” author L. Frank Baum is mentioned for the “white supremacy” featured in his 1906 short story “Bandit Jim Crow.”
“Problems are encountered continually with respect to the history of demeaning terms associated with disability and indigenous cultures, as well as the immigrants who have shaped modern America and Britain,” the successful project pitch reads in part.
“Trigger warnings, with indications of harmful content for intersectional identities, will protect researchers, children, and general readers from offensiveness or hurt that can emerge in otherwise safe search queries or acts of browsing.”
The push to call out racist publications is ongoing and across both sides of the pond.
In March, President Joe Biden omitted Dr. Seuss from ‘Read Across America’ amid concerns of racism.
The Read Across America program, launched by the National Educators of America (NEA) in 1998 to promote children’s literacy, is closely associated with author Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birthday (Mar. 2.) Since the backlash, the program has carefully distanced itself from all things Dr. Seuss.
