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Brooklyn Library Vault Questioned
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 24, 2009
Modified Aug 24, 2009
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 24, 2009
Modified Aug 24, 2009
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So about that locked vault that holds controversial books at the Brooklyn Library... the Daily News published a piece by the New York Civil Rights Coalition's executive director, Michael Meyers, chastising the practice of locking up our nation's history—no matter how ugly it can be. The book at the centerpiece is Tintin au Congo, and Meyers says, "we don't need librarians protecting us or our children's wonderment and discovery from 'bad' images and messages in books. Where would such paternalism in the forms of censorship and banishment begin and end? We shouldn't try to hide unpleasant truths from our children. It is historical fact that white racialists colonized Africa, and that explorers and even missionaries thought of black Africans as primitive savages in need of civilizing." Indeed, this history happened and it's not an "Out, out damned spot" sort of scenario where a lock and key will make it disappear.
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banished
banned
Brooklyn Library
controversial
library
racist
Tintin au Congo
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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