Brewster
2018-07-04 22:50:02 UTC
That's what liberals do though, ignorant things.
Few people are unfamiliar with the Little House on the Prairie book
series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her simple retellings of her childhood
memories of life in the big woods of Wisconsin, to the prairie of the
Dakota territories, to her life as a married frontier wife have
captured the imaginations of generations of readers.
Wilders stories of her familys journey west in a covered wagon, the
careful details of the minutiae of their daily lives, and her
descriptions of an America most commonly seen in history books should,
without question, cement her place in history as a talented and
important author. Wilders books also have served to introduce
children for decades to disability issues, specifically blindness, and
are an important look at the positive difference a supportive family
can make for people with special needs.
The enduring nature of her work is a testimony to her ability to
write, and that talent and ability to capture readers minds and
hearts led the Associate for Library Service to Children to name a
literary award after her in 1952. Now her presence has been stripped
from the the award, which has been renamed the Childrens Literature
Legacy Award.
Wilders removal came after repeated rounds of criticism that her
books, written about her girlhood in the 1800s, contained racist and
offensive characterizations most commonly of Native Americans. These
complaints started in the 50s with a reader writing into Harper, the
publisher of Wilders books, about sentences that she disagreed with.
The publisher responded by rewording sections. These gentle rewordings
quelled critiques until more recently, when statutes and school names
became battle grounds for removing the presence of people with
problematic parts of their history. No longer can Confederate leaders
of the past have any public monuments. Their part in the Civil War
renders them best forgotten, ripped from places where their names and
images could remind people of uncomfortable parts of history. And here
is where Wilders name and image are now being stripped away.
Her writing about her life, her feelings, and those of her parents and
siblings in the 1800s are being judged against the views that people
hold today. Fans of Wilder and her work arent defending racism. The
outcry over removing her name and legacy isnt one of cheering on
racism, but rather one of recognizing the talent and legacy of a
female American author.
Wilders books capture the breathless American exceptionalism so
lacking in current culture. The pioneers were willing to condense all
of their possessions into a covered wagon, and set out for places
theyd never seen before with their families. They had the tenacity to
cut homes from the ground itself, to cross rivers and mountains, to
plant towns and communities. All of this they did after saying goodbye
to extended families in the east, knowing that they might never see
them again. The western landscape of America is what it is today after
families just like the Ingalls and Wilders, and discarding this is a
loss to everyone.
For many kids, the Little House series is also one of their first
introductions into the personal life of someone with a disability.
Lauras older sister Mary goes blind in By the Shores of Silver
Lake. This fundamentally changes not just Marys life, but that of
Laura and the whole family. She learns compassion, and takes on her
sisters role, and works hard to save money to help send her sister to
a special school so she can succeed as a blind person in the 1800s.
Attending the School for the Blind allowed Mary to learn Braille and
how to navigate confidently on her own, and gave her independence.
This provides parents an opportunity to talk about the changes in
medical care we now enjoy, access to schooling options now versus in
the past, and why and how we should treat people with differences. The
Little House books help show how far weve come, and why this is so
important for families and people with disabilities. Its a shame to
lose an opportunity to help kids understand how they should interact
with and help others.
Pretending things that make us uncomfortable never happened isnt
going to make America better, or make American children more informed.
Its entirely possible to read the Little House books and talk about
the Westward expansion that happened with the settlers, while also
discussing the Native American peoples who lived in that area at that
time, and what happened to them with the American government and
military to pave the way for settlers. Pair reading the Little House
books with age appropriate books about Native American children, like
Sing Down the Moon, a book that chronicles the journey of the Navajo
from their homes to Fort Sumner. Read Sign of the Beaver, a book
that brings together a Native American boy and a settler boy, and
shows how much they had to learn from each other. This is a
progressive educational failure, and one we should reject strongly for
our children.
Were at a crossroads for how to handle our past. Writers like Wilder
shouldnt be stricken from the record. It will do much more harm than
good. A contemporary of Wilders, George Santayana described perfectly
instead how we need to handle history Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it.
https://thefederalist.com/2018/06/27/scrubbing-laura-ingalls-wilder-is-a-dangerous-step-toward-ignorance/
Few people are unfamiliar with the Little House on the Prairie book
series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her simple retellings of her childhood
memories of life in the big woods of Wisconsin, to the prairie of the
Dakota territories, to her life as a married frontier wife have
captured the imaginations of generations of readers.
Wilders stories of her familys journey west in a covered wagon, the
careful details of the minutiae of their daily lives, and her
descriptions of an America most commonly seen in history books should,
without question, cement her place in history as a talented and
important author. Wilders books also have served to introduce
children for decades to disability issues, specifically blindness, and
are an important look at the positive difference a supportive family
can make for people with special needs.
The enduring nature of her work is a testimony to her ability to
write, and that talent and ability to capture readers minds and
hearts led the Associate for Library Service to Children to name a
literary award after her in 1952. Now her presence has been stripped
from the the award, which has been renamed the Childrens Literature
Legacy Award.
Wilders removal came after repeated rounds of criticism that her
books, written about her girlhood in the 1800s, contained racist and
offensive characterizations most commonly of Native Americans. These
complaints started in the 50s with a reader writing into Harper, the
publisher of Wilders books, about sentences that she disagreed with.
The publisher responded by rewording sections. These gentle rewordings
quelled critiques until more recently, when statutes and school names
became battle grounds for removing the presence of people with
problematic parts of their history. No longer can Confederate leaders
of the past have any public monuments. Their part in the Civil War
renders them best forgotten, ripped from places where their names and
images could remind people of uncomfortable parts of history. And here
is where Wilders name and image are now being stripped away.
Her writing about her life, her feelings, and those of her parents and
siblings in the 1800s are being judged against the views that people
hold today. Fans of Wilder and her work arent defending racism. The
outcry over removing her name and legacy isnt one of cheering on
racism, but rather one of recognizing the talent and legacy of a
female American author.
Wilders books capture the breathless American exceptionalism so
lacking in current culture. The pioneers were willing to condense all
of their possessions into a covered wagon, and set out for places
theyd never seen before with their families. They had the tenacity to
cut homes from the ground itself, to cross rivers and mountains, to
plant towns and communities. All of this they did after saying goodbye
to extended families in the east, knowing that they might never see
them again. The western landscape of America is what it is today after
families just like the Ingalls and Wilders, and discarding this is a
loss to everyone.
For many kids, the Little House series is also one of their first
introductions into the personal life of someone with a disability.
Lauras older sister Mary goes blind in By the Shores of Silver
Lake. This fundamentally changes not just Marys life, but that of
Laura and the whole family. She learns compassion, and takes on her
sisters role, and works hard to save money to help send her sister to
a special school so she can succeed as a blind person in the 1800s.
Attending the School for the Blind allowed Mary to learn Braille and
how to navigate confidently on her own, and gave her independence.
This provides parents an opportunity to talk about the changes in
medical care we now enjoy, access to schooling options now versus in
the past, and why and how we should treat people with differences. The
Little House books help show how far weve come, and why this is so
important for families and people with disabilities. Its a shame to
lose an opportunity to help kids understand how they should interact
with and help others.
Pretending things that make us uncomfortable never happened isnt
going to make America better, or make American children more informed.
Its entirely possible to read the Little House books and talk about
the Westward expansion that happened with the settlers, while also
discussing the Native American peoples who lived in that area at that
time, and what happened to them with the American government and
military to pave the way for settlers. Pair reading the Little House
books with age appropriate books about Native American children, like
Sing Down the Moon, a book that chronicles the journey of the Navajo
from their homes to Fort Sumner. Read Sign of the Beaver, a book
that brings together a Native American boy and a settler boy, and
shows how much they had to learn from each other. This is a
progressive educational failure, and one we should reject strongly for
our children.
Were at a crossroads for how to handle our past. Writers like Wilder
shouldnt be stricken from the record. It will do much more harm than
good. A contemporary of Wilders, George Santayana described perfectly
instead how we need to handle history Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it.
https://thefederalist.com/2018/06/27/scrubbing-laura-ingalls-wilder-is-a-dangerous-step-toward-ignorance/