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1. Amanda Casabianca wrote:

   Is anyone else surprised that Iranian people are now seen as heroic in the media? Does anyone else remember how vilified Iranians were in the mass American media if you grew up in the late 70’s or 80’s? Seeing another country as human and not an “evil empire” is a welcome change.

   Posted 25 Jun 2009 at 7:34 am ¶

2. Megan wrote:

   Okay y’all, I’ve got a question. My son, who is 3 and a half and Ethiopian by birth, has recently only gone to sleep if we read to him, and he falls asleep easily to books that are a bit too old for him but still hold his interest. Since I’d wanted to read/reread the Narnia books anyway I’ve chosen those for bed and naptime, and it’s worked great. He’s into the story a bit but not enough to keep him awake for too long.

   Anyway, I’m on “A Horse and His Boy” and I’ve suddenly realized some of the racist undertones. The Narnians are described as both fair and good, and the Calormenes as dark and bad. This is mentioned several times, usually just in passing, but it’s grating on me. I know my son is far too young to pick up on it now, especially if I just skip a sentence or two (which I’m doing for some of the more violent parts) but I loved the books growing up and I’d been hoping that he’d enjoy them too when he was older.

   What would you do? Just scrap plans to have him read the Narnia books because of the racism I’m picking up on? Let him read them and hope he doesn’t catch it? Let him read them when he’s old enough for me to explain why that racism was in the works at all? I really loved those stories as a kid and found them to be utterly magical, and I’d hate to deny him something I loved, but just reading about the fair and good Narnians trying to escape the land of the dark, evil people… yeah, I’m not so sure anymore.

   Posted 25 Jun 2009 at 1:10 pm ¶

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