About oneta hayes
ABOUT ME
Hello. To various folks I am Neat’nee, Mom, Grandma Neta, Gramma, Aunt Neta, Aunt Noni, Aunt Neno, and Aunt Neto (lots of varieties from little nieces and nephews). To some I’m more like “Didn’t you used to be my teacher?” or “Don’t I know you from someplace?” To you, perhaps, I am a Fellow Blogger. Not “fellow” like a male or a guy, but “fellow” like a companion or an adventurer. I would choose to be Grandma Blogger, and have you pull up a chair, my website before you, while I tell you of some days of yore. I have experienced life much differently than most of you. It was and is a good life. I hope to share nuggets of appreciation for those who have gone before me and those who come after me. By necessity you are among those who come after me and I will tell you of those who came before. Once upon a time in a little house on a prairie - oops, change that lest I commit plagiarism - and change that “house on the prairie” to “dugout on the prairie.” So my story begins...
Sweet aroma 
I have my dad’s and aunt’s original copies of Little Black Sambo.
My son, a millennial, was aghast to see that such a book existed and told me to get rid of them both.
I most certainly will not—in part because the story is not racist but the tale of a dark complected Indian child, a tiger and butter.
It was written just before the turn of the century in the late 1800’s by a Scottish woman for her children when the family was living in India
It is also a historic piece of Americana literature and I for one do not believe in erasing any parts of our history be they good or bad.
For my dad, as a little boy (his copy is from 1918) this was a taste of the exotic..it piqued the imagination of a little boy from the deep South—be it tigers and India or be it Africa and his original Tarzan books—they were and are the stuff of imagination and adventure…nothing racist in any of that.
I have looked for a Black Sambo that I could afford. They generally run close to a hundred dollars. Too much for me. I have a story book collection that has the story.in it. I think it is in that book just behind Song of the South. Yes, yours are treasures. I have looked up the history of the book and found the same info you presented. I agree; it has nothing to do with race.
I grew up on the Black Sambo story. I saw nothing but a child chasing a tiger around a tree and turning it into butter. How was that a racial slur. I should’ve kept that book. I might have a little treasure on my hands.
I’m remembering when I read/heard the story. I was/am reality based. I thought it was kind of dumb. Never could see the connection between a tiger and butter I didn’t even like Alice in Wonderland. LOL
I don’t know if there’s a lesson in there or not, but it didn’t portray a black child in a derogatory way. He just kept running around in circles.
That’s even somewhat like me. 😀
Oneta, what I say may be non PC and may be controversial but may be relevant to what you are trying to say.
Take this case. Again, my sincerest apologies to all who may feel offender. I have absolutely no intention of hurting anyone’s feelings. Many in the west denigrate the Prophet of Islam and a pedophile. Do they really try to understand the sociological or historical environment of his time? It was an era when the society may have been teeming with widows and orphans. By today’s ethical mores, the act of child marriage may be abhorrent but at that particular time in history that may have been the only way to save the child from falling prey to powerful men. I do not see any educated Muslims giving away their daughters in child marriage now. Societies change and evolve all the time, erasing history will only make us commit the same mistakes again. We should be cognizant and sensitive to the present time, balancing history with the feelings of the community and population at large.
To clarify, I am not a Muslim and I have the utmost respect to all she though I won’t call myself a very religious person.
A thoughtful presentation of how time and place really do make a difference in acceptable practices. Your statement “erasing history will only make us commit the same mistakes again” is so important. I know you are not talking about there ever being a time when child abuse was acceptable. The Lord will be the one to make the judgment about the motivation and treatment of a child in a marriage situation. I think this practice was not uncommon among the elite (rich or royal) families in some places. altho there might have been an age requirement before the actual uniting of the bride and groom.
Present time has become so difficult to talk about anything in a civil way. It is either my way or highway.
I understand. I’m a bit afraid. There are certain phrases I will not use because I don’t want to be too easily found on the Search engines. Discussing the political impact is not what I want although I do care very much. That’s the reason I am stressing Me. I think it is good to see what is revealed about me. In one of the Psalms David prays that God will reveal the secret things of the heart. So far I haven’t judged myself guilty, but I am finding some things that I can understand are offensive. Plan to be back with this Friday. Doing a bit of research.By the way “my way or the highway” was a good option compared to the choices one makes today.
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