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Racism and Disney
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heather7257 posted:
So DD and I were listening to a Disney kids station on Pandora yesterday and a song from Peter Pan came up that was horribly racist towards Native Americans. I remember hearing this song as a little kid watching the movie and not thinking anything of it, because I was to young to know any better. I mentioned this to DH last night at dinner and he pointed out that Disney had been criticized a lot for racial slurs in some of their older films and cited Dumbo as one that had a bunch of offensive material towards African Americans. I hardly remember any details of the film, just that I enjoyed it as a kid. My first response was, "Oh no, does this mean we can't let DD watch it?" (in retrospect, kind of a dumb thing to say) DH said, "I don't know" then we moved on to something else. Anyway, I was just wondering what you all think about this, and what you have done/are going to do with you kids. Do you let them watch things like this and ignore it, talk about it and use as an example, or just don't show it to them?
3 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Racism and DisneySo DD and I were listening to a Disney kids station on Pandora yesterday and a song from Peter Pan came up that was horribly racist towards Native Americans. I remember hearing this song as a little kid watching the movie and not thinking anything of it, because I was to young to know any better. I mentioned this to DH last night at dinner and he pointed out that Disney had been criticized a lot for racial slurs in some of their older films and cited Dumbo as one that had a bunch of offensive material towards African Americans. I hardly remember any details of the film, just that I enjoyed it as a kid. My first response was, "Oh no, does this mean we can't let DD watch it?" (in retrospect, kind of a dumb thing to say) DH said, "I don't know" then we moved on to something else. Anyway, I was just wondering what you all think about this, and what you have done/are going to do with you kids. Do you let them watch things like this and ignore it, talk about it and use as an example, or just don't show it to them?
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121sweetie responded:
My husband pointed out how racist the "Uncle Remus" Disney movie was, they talk about "tar babies" and all of the characters talk in "ebonics" or whatever you want to call it which makes them seem extremely ignorant, and they still have an Uncle Remus ride at Disney World. I wouldn't show that movie to my child, but others like Dumbo I never thought about, its been a long time since I've seen it.
Report This| Share this:Racism and DisneyMy husband pointed out how racist the "Uncle Remus" Disney movie was, they talk about "tar babies" and all of the characters talk in "ebonics" or whatever you want to call it which makes them seem extremely ignorant, and they still have an Uncle Remus ride at Disney World. I wouldn't show that movie to my child, but others like Dumbo I never thought about, its been a long time since I've seen it.
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wwilson89 replied to 121sweetie's response:
I haven't seen "Dumbo" in ages and I've never heard of "Uncle Remus", but I think when trying to determine if these movies are prejudiced or not, we have to keep in mind when these movies were produced, and the social atmosphere when they were released. Much of the material produced before the time of political correctness going overboard can be seen as kind of racist. I don't even like Western movies b/c of how they portray Native Americans, and don't even get me started on "black face".

Just like when you were a child, you didn't notice these things, I don't think our kids will. I say let them be children and enjoy these characters without the judgement of adults. Of course, if they have questions, answer them honestly and in an age-related way, but I don't want to bombard my child with worries thinking every little thing is racist.
Report This| Share this:Racism and DisneyI haven't seen "Dumbo" in ages and I've never heard of "Uncle Remus", but I think when trying to determine if these movies are prejudiced or not, we have to keep in mind when these movies were produced, and the social atmosphere when they were released. Much of the material produced before the time of political correctness going overboard can be seen as kind of racist. I don't even like Western movies b/c of how they portray Native Americans, and don't even get me started on "black face". <br /> <br />Just like when you were a child, you didn't notice these things, I don't think our kids will. I say let them be children and enjoy these characters without the judgement of adults. Of course, if they have questions, answer them honestly and in an age-related way, but I don't want to bombard my child with worries thinking every little thing is racist.
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airjeremal replied to wwilson89's response:
I agree with wwilson89. The children cant pick up on these things like we do. And the point about the time frame the movies were made says a lot about the content. Disney movies nowadays arent like that.
Report This| Share this:Racism and DisneyI agree with wwilson89. The children cant pick up on these things like we do. And the point about the time frame the movies were made says a lot about the content. Disney movies nowadays arent like that.
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