[ APPLAUSE ] >>> AND MORE WITH OUR PANEL NOW.
CRAIG MELVIN, ELISE JORDAN AND
MEGAN TWOHEY.
MEGAN TWOHEY. LAURA INGALLS WILDER, AND
"LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE" I
LOVED THIS.
LOVED THIS. SHE BECAME FAMOUS WRITING THESE
BOOKS.
BOOKS. THEY CREATED AN AWARD IN HER
NAME, THE LAURA INGALLS WILDER
AWARD, THAT THEY GAVE TO BIG
CHILDREN WRITERS, FOR YEARS.
NO MORE.
NO MORE. NOW, THIS GROUP, THE LIBRARY
ASSOCIATION, THE AMERICAN
LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, A FACTION
OF IT, HAS UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO
STRIP HER NAME FROM THIS MAJOR
CHILDREN’S LITERACY AWARD
BECAUSE SOME OF HER WRITINGS,
THEY REFLECT DATED CULTURAL
ATTITUDES TOWARDS INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR, THAT
CELEBRATE MODERN ACCEPTANCE OF
COMMUNITIES.
COMMUNITIES. THERE WERE NO PEOPLE IN THESE
UNDEVELOPED LANDS.
UNDEVELOPED LANDS. THERE WERE NO PEOPLE, ONLY
INDIANS.
INDIANS. SHE MAKES A DISTINCTION BETWEEN
PEOPLE AND INDIANS.
NOW, LAURA INGALLS WILDER WAS
BORN IN 1867.
AND TIMES WERE DIFFERENT THEN.
ONE WOULD EXPECT HER WRITING
ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS, ABOUT
PEOPLE OF COLOR, ABOUT WOMEN, TO
BE DIFFERENT THAN THEY WOULD BE
IN TODAY’S DAY AND AGE.
WAS THIS THE RIGHT DECISION?
>> HERE’S THE THING.
I THINK OUR WRITINGS SHOULD
REMIND US OF WHERE WE WERE IN
THAT PARTICULAR TIME.
[ APPLAUSE ]
YOU START TO -- YOU START TO
SANITIZE HISTORY AND YOU
SANITIZE LITERATURE.
SANITIZE LITERATURE. SLOWLY, WE FORGET WHERE WE WERE.
I THINK, ESPECIALLY FOR PEOPLE
OF COLOR, IT’S SOMETIMES -- IT’S
EASIER SOMETIMES FOR US, I
THINK, TO BE REMINDED OF WHAT
THIS COUNTRY WAS LIKE.
FROM WENCE WE CAME.
YOU APPRECIATE IT MORE, MAYBE
NOT TODAY, BUT THE ERA, IN WHICH
WE LIVE, IN GENERAL.
AT THE MACRO LEVEL.
I THINK WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL
ABOUT GOING THROUGH AND NITPICK
NIT-PICKING
NIT-PICKING NIT-PICKING.
NIT-PICKING. THAT’S JUST MY OPINION.
>> SOME FOLKS SAY, THERE’S STILL
A MARK TWAIN AWARD FOR COMEDY
FROM THE KENNEDY CENTER.
AND MARK TWAIN WROTE "HUCK FINN"
WHICH USES THE "N" AND IS ONE OF
THE GREATEST BOOKS SS IN HISTORY
NOT THAT ANYBODY IS SAYING THAT
MARK TWAIN WAS RACIST, BUT HE’S
WRITING ABOUT A TIME WHERE THE
WORD WAS USED.
>> THERE’S A DISTINCTION BETWEEN
AN AWARD AND SOMEONE’S NAME AND
BOOKS THAT CAN AND BE READ BY
AMERICA’S CHILDREN.
AMERICA’S CHILDREN. >> THEY’RE MAD ABOUT THE
CHARACTERS IN HER BOOKS, TOO.
>> THEY’RE NOT ARGUING THAT SHE
SHOULDN’T BE READ.
THEY’RE NOT ARKGUING THAT HER
WOOK
WOOK BOOKS SHOULD BE REMOVED.
AND THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
SAYING THIS PERSON IS A PART OF
OUR LITERATURE VERSUS SAYING
THERE SHOULD BE AN AWARD GIVEN
IN THIS PERSON’S NAME.
I’M NOT STATING MY OPINION.
>> GOOD LUCK FINDING SOMEBODY
THAT IS PRO-MINORITY OF ANY KIND
IN 1876.
IN 1876. SERIOUSLY.
SERIOUSLY. I’LL BET YOU CAN’T FIND ONE.
>> I THINK IT’S GOOD THAT WE’RE
RECOGNIZING THIS IMPORTANT
LITERATURE FOR THE HISTORICAL
CONTEXT THAT IT NEEDS TO BE READ
IN.
IN. THAT’S SOMETHING GOING FORWARD,
WE CAN DO AS WE TEACH AND WE
READ "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE
PRAIRIE" AND THE GREAT BOOKS I
READ GROWING UP AND WAS OBSESSED
WITH.
WITH. AND THE TAKEAWAY WAS, WHOA, LIFE
WAS PRETTY HARD ON THE PRAIRIE.
>> AND CHARLES INGALS WAS HOT.