Curious George - Essay on being biased in children\'s books. PDF

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Essay on being biased in children's books....

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Curious George

Curious George by H.A. Rey

Ashley N. Green College of Education, Grand Canyon University EDU 330: Social Justice for Educators Kate Flavell March 28, 2021

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Curious George

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Curious George by H.A. Rey George is a brown monkey from Africa and was taken from his home to live in a zoo in America. White man kidnapped and enslaved Africans and were thought of as mischievous. While on the boat, George tries flying with the seagulls, and jumping in the water. It has been recorded that when the slaves were coming across the sea on the boat, they also jumped into the water trying to flee. (Cummins, 1997). When the man with the yellow hat leaves George alone, he is always getting into trouble, this compares to the stereotype that people of color are stupid and can not follow rules, arguing the fact that they need supervision at all times, just like slavery. (Schwartz-DuPre, 2020). George gets arrested and put in jail shows that men of color can get arrested for even just the little of crime. When George makes it to the zoo, it can be assumed he is now secluded from the rest of the world demonstrating that segregation is real. The illustrations in the book show many white men chasing and capturing a brown monkey. All the people in the city are white no diversity present except for the monkey. The front cover illustration of the book displays two men in uniforms, portraying authority, while George has a smile on his face, suggesting that he enjoys being in trouble. (Terhune, 2020). This book was written in 1941, the civil rights movement had started until almost ten years later. June of 1940, the authors H.A. and Margret Reys fled from Paris before the Nazis came. (Cummins, 1997, Galchen, 2019). Their story is a little much like George they left their home, and to start somewhere new. Children can identify with the book in different ways, white children would identify as growing up and becoming the “Man in the yellow hat” while children of color will group up thinking of how they relate to George taken from his home in Africa and connecting to slavery. (Roper, 2008).

Curious George

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The Curious George Foundation established in 1989, does some great things for kids of all ethnicity and race, and helps in prevention of cruelty to animals. The foundation also supports community programs that help with counseling in support groups. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012). Margret Rey was complemented on her work for promoting racial understanding in her other books. (Roper, 2008). I would use this book only to discuss and raise awareness of how George might have felt during all of this and how it might make the students feel if this were to happen to them. I will encourage students to speak up if they witness or are in trouble due to this kind of behavior. I would make sure the support and act appropriately to students in need of help.

Cultural competence continuum Curious George would fall in between cultural denial/indifference and cultural precompetence. The story seems to be innocent and not trying to offend anyone. It is in denial of being racial and objective towards people of different races. When you consider the author(s) background the story does not fit that they were trying to be racist or discriminate towards others. After researching this book, I still do not think it was meant to promote racism. I understand that reading a book like this can be painful, and hurtful towards others. However, if you take this as learning opportunity and ask the right questions, you can change the course of these books and make them educational. You can not learn from something if you do not have the conversation about it. (Gienapp, 2019). We need history books, books with some diversity, this is how learn from the past. Once you start the conversation, then they will start asking more questions and want to learn more. (Lingras, 2021).

Curious George References

Cummins, J. (1997). The resisting monkey:" Curious George" slave captivity narratives, and the postcolonial condition. ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature, 28(1). Galchen, R. (2019). The Unexpected profundity of curious George. The New Yorker. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2012). https://www.curiousgeorge.com/about%20us Lingras, K.A. (2021). Talking with children about race and racism. J Health Serv Psychol 47, 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42843-021-00027-4 Rey, H.A. & Rey. M. (1941). Curious George. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Roper, M. (2008). "Monkey see, monkey do: How academia turned curious George into a racial commentary. Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 198. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/198 Schwartz-DuPre, R. L. (2020). Curious George Explores the Diaspora. Parenting Through Pop Culture: Essays on navigating media with children, 86. Terhune, M. (2020). A good little monkey: Curious George’s undercurrent of white dominance and the series’ continued popularity. Boston University.

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Curious George Appendix Each Appendix appears on its own page.

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Curious George Footnotes 1

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Curious George Figure Captions Figure 1. Caption of figure

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