Should We Burn Babar?
... woman the refused to move off a bus, the point Kohl is trying to make is that Parks was an African-American woman that wanted to have the same equal rights as anyone else in this county. Kohl believes that children as young as three or four are capable of-- and should be taught -- critical analysis. He questions the place of power and wealth in literature such as Babar the elephant, his "token for what is objectionable in children's literature". This book is racist, colonialist, and sexist in nature yet it is also considered a classic. Well, should we indeed burn Babar? Kohl, in his tactful but direct way leaves it up to us to take a stance. Either way, we are left shocked and with a deeper understanding of how dangerous the influence of a piece literature can be. Along with Kohl’s views of Babar he also tied in the original story of Pinocchio. There is two ways of looking at these stories, one is, it is a cute story of an elephant and a puppet doll, or the other way to look at it is, these are stories about an elephant and a doll that want to become real people, little boys. These boys want to frolic, be educated, live and become civilized as any “normal” little boy in America. In the story of Pinocchio, the puppet doll does many mischievous things, and the people forgive him every time. In the world today children are growing up with many self-identity issues. I feel this story of an “other” wanting to become one with the majority group, is something that happens in school, jobs, and every part of our social classes. I feel people feel too much of a need to belong to one specific group, and have a “normal” identity. There are some people in this world that because of instances beyond there own control they are different from others. I cannot explain why others, that are not the same way don’t know how to deal with those differences. These differences come in all different sorts, whether someone has blue hair, is disabled, has a different color skin, or is gay. As Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old boy found out on October 7, 1998 having a difference can be fatal. Matthew was different than others, and even though he didn’t fit the majorities schedule he still wanted to be treated the same. There were two boys that Matthew met that didn’t accept change and thought that Matthew didn’t deserve to live because he was gay. This night in Collins, Colorado these 2 men lured Matt to a deserted road and tied him to spilt-rail fence, tortured beaten and pistol-whipped by his attackers, then he was left for dead in near freezing temperatures. Even though Babar, Pinocchio, and Matthew were not the same as even one else they still deserved to create there own identity and be an individual in this world with equal and free rights. Kohl’s arguments in the essays were trying to let the reader see that even though compassionate people can understand and look past these differences, they are still viewed as different. I feel if we teach children at a young age, not even to use the word different, but just look at that person n the same respect as any other person in the world. An article written just after Matthew’s death called, “A Gentle Spirit” by an anonymous writer, tried to portray the gruesome details of Matthew’s death by saying that just because he was gay this was no excuse, and everyone is the same. Even this written says, “They were just ordinary, average guys, having a bit of fun.” This statement is saying that she is conforming almost to the same level as Matt’s killers by saying that the killers were the ones that are normal and ordinary, meaning Matthew was different. As children begin reading the stories of Babar, Pinocchio and other fables they need to have been taught from these ages that there is no difference in people, we are all same, we come from the same blood, and we are all connected I some way. Maybe if these two young men were taught this at a young age, and it was imbedded in their mind Matthew would still be alive. Matthew is not the only person in this would that struggled with an identity crisis, but he was one that lost his life because of it. The Webster dictionary defines sexism as prejudice or discrimination. In the book, “Should We Burn Babar” most of Kohl’s arguments that he brings up all tie into the issue of sexism. For example the story of Pinocchio, there is the infamous phrase “boys will be boys” is this something that boys want to be la...