Ask ARP: Is “The Story of Little Babaji” racist?
Dear Anti-Racist Parent,
I am stumped and was wondering if I could get your opinions or suggestions - hell, I’d love to see this discussed on the site.
My partner loves the book The Story of Little Babaji and I am really uncomfortable with it. I was wondering if you all had heard of it or had an opinion?
It’s a “retelling” and re-illustration of Little Black Sambo, but with Indian characters instead of the original awful caricatures. The publisher claims that this is the story as it was originally written by a white British woman living in India.
My partner loves the fact that it’s a story about a clever boy from India, and feels that since we have no other books with Southeast Asian protagonists, that we should keep this one around. He also loves the story, remembers it from his childhood (in the Sambo version - ugh) and thinks that Babaji, the protagonist, is a very clever and resourceful boy.
I feel that the story is clearly the point of view of a white person living as a colonizer in India. It seems totally condescending to me - “ooh, look at those cute, naive, clever native people with their silly ways!”
I also frankly am really pissed off by its history as Little Black Sambo, even if the illustrations are changed. It just gives me the willies.
I don’t want to read it to my white son because I don’t know how to talk about how uncomfortable it makes me, and I don’t want him to think that this is how Indian people look and act. There are plenty of respectful books about Indians and Indian-Americans that I feel give the message I want to give.
Can I get some outside opinions? Am I over-reacting?
Thanks for any help,
Torey
From the Editor:
You are not over-reacting. Good parents look out for race-biased messages and other harmful things in childrens books and media. But isThe Story of Little Babaji problematic? I don’t know. I am unfamiliar with the book. Knowing that the story has its origins as Little Black Sambo surely raises a red flag, but it is not enough for me to dismiss it.
Readers, what do you think?
Hear a reading of the story and a discussion of its origins on NPR.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Reena wrote:
Hi,
I think this my first time ever posting anything on this site.
DH and I are both white. My step kids are bi-racial and we recently adopted our daughter from China. We are always on the look out for racist sentiments in stories/character depictions etc.
When I first married DH my step kids asked to watch some of my VCR tapes of old cartoons that had been favorites of my mom when she was young (Little Lu Lu). My step kids loved these cartoons.
I had never actually watched these cartoons and DH and I were both floored when we caught a couple episodes–complete and flagrant racism in character depictions of black people. My step kids didn’t get it (they were younger then 5 and 7 years old)—until we talked to them about why the cartoons are racist. We found that this provided an opportunity to talk about racism, how it was perpetuated in the media – back in the day– and even still today. When are daughter is older, we will likely use these videos—if they still work—as teaching tools with her as well.
My step kids are now 10 and 12 years old-they have experienced some episodes of racism and they are pretty quick to pick up on this kind of stuff. They recognize when something isn’t fair and they bring it up to us or their mom for discussion.
Depending on the age of your child, I think I might try to use the book as a teaching tool.
Best Regards,
Reena
Posted 29 Sep 2008 at 9:39 am ¶
Psychobabbler wrote:
We are an Indian-American family and we have had this book for years - our young son loves it. Yes, the context is that it was written by a white woman who was a colonizer living in India who probably wrote it with the perspective of “ooh, look at those cute, naive, clever native people with their silly ways!” But my husband and I just re-read the story now before posting a response, and from our perspective we didn’t find anything offensive in the pictures or text. Our perspective: it ’s a charming tall tale of a clever boy in India who outsmarts some silly tigers. But we’d certainly be interested in hearing others’ opinions.
Posted 29 Sep 2008 at 9:53 am ¶
Psychobabbler wrote:
Addendum to earlier comment: I’m wondering if Torey would be willing to share more speicifically about what made her uncomfortable: ” I don’t want him to think that this is how Indian people look and act.” It IS a silly story, not a realistic one - but the people were not drawn as charicatures and the names were not offensive (the two things that made the original book so awful).
If you want to add some more =books about South Asian boys to your collection, but ones that involves real-life themes, I’d recommend the following books:
The Elephant Dance - Theresa Heine
Chachaji’s Cup - Uma Krishnaswami
BTW, there is another fabulous, modernized and reclaimed version of the Sambo story with African American characters written by Julius Lester for anyone who might be interested!
Posted 30 Sep 2008 at 8:53 am ¶
Stretch Mark Mama wrote:
Just read that story yesterday. The book focuses on the boy being clever and honestly? I don’t remember any discussion of race, nationality, or ethnicity. Only the names stand out as “unique” but my kids think nothing of that.
Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 3:13 pm ¶
S's mom wrote:
I saw this book on display at the library yesterday, and because of this post, I checked it out. It seems respectful. I’ve never seen Little Black Sambo so I can’t compare.
I guess one issue I grapple with: is it okay to read books with children of color of them even if it is written by a person who is not of that color? Following this line of reasoning, the Amazing Grace series is ruled out, because the author is a British white woman. What about The Story of Ping? It is a beloved classic, but I can’t tell if it is racist or not. (The characters’ skin is yellowish.)
Posted 01 Oct 2008 at 7:14 pm ¶
Erica B. wrote:
My mother had a copy of Little Black Sambo as a child (~1940s), and I found it in a box when I was a teenager and read it. Looking at JUST the storyline (and I’m going from a pretty old memory here), it was about a boy who wandered into the woods, climbed a tree to get away from some tigers who wouldn’t leave. They ran around the tree faster and faster, until they turned into butter. He then gathered up the tiger-butter and went home (and I think his mother cooked something yummy for him with the butter).
The illustrations, though, were what brought the racist caricature into play. I’d never consider showing the book to my kids (unless they were young adults and we were having a talk about racism). I can’t anyway; my mom re-hid it (or threw it away, I don’t remember) after I showed it to her and I have no idea where it is. (I occasionally wonder if it’s going to be a nasty surprise when I clean out her house after she passes away…)
I hadn’t read Little Babaji, so I listened to the NPR reading. I’d forgotten the whole thing with the clothes! It seems like an average kid’s story. (If you read it to your child and then talked about how Indian families are ridiculous and like colorful clothes and say “ghee” instead of “butter”, then yeah there’d be a problem. But if you just left it as is, would there be?)
I’m white, and I’m aware I don’t always get it. I may well be barking up the wrong tree, so guidance is appreciated in finding the right one
Posted 04 Oct 2008 at 5:01 pm ¶
Erica B. wrote:
@S’s mom — I don’t think that The Story of Ping is racist, unless you read it with thick Chinese accents when the humans are talking about the ducks. I could have killed my husband when he did that. “What? They’re in China!” was his response. So my daughter ended up listening to me talk about stereotyped accents historically indicating “different and subpar” instead of a bedtime story.
Posted 04 Oct 2008 at 5:03 pm ¶
Alan wrote:
Little Black Sambo isn’t even about black people! It’s in INDIA for goshsakes. Are there tigers in the US South????? People see what they want to see. And this new version has been politically corrected, I don’t see how anyone thinks it’s racist. Unless you feel that it’s racist against INDIANS.
Posted 02 Nov 2008 at 2:28 pm ¶