Little House in the Wrong Thread

[steve-in-kville]

From a known child predator to Laura Ingalls Wilder, all in one thread. This is officially a train wreck.

[Soloist]

My good sir, take your trains and go play elsewhere! This is a thread for professionals

[steve-in-kville]

My good sir, take your trains and go play elsewhere! This is a thread for professionals

I would but my trains are on fire at the moment

[barnhart]

One of my children brought home from the library Homer Price and his Centerburg Tales which is a charming book on many levels but it has a section that mocks native Americans as foolish, given over to excess and generally not people to be taken seriously. We talked about it and I wrote a sticky note expressing my reservations about that chapter and sent it back.

[Josh]

One of my children brought home from the library Homer Price and his Centerburg Tales which is a charming book on many levels but it has a section that mocks native Americans as foolish, given over to excess and generally not people to be taken seriously. We talked about it and I wrote a sticky note expressing my reservations about that chapter and sent it back.

Did you expect the library to censor the book or something?

[RZehr]

On a road trip now. Visited the Ingalls homestead in De Smet, South Dakota yesterday. Listened to the first few books while traveling.

I recommend the books. Regarding the Indians, Pa consistently is the voice of reason. He consistently tells the children and Ma to consider the events from the Indians perspective, and pushes back on the racism and fear that Ma and other people have. He teaches them to treat the Indians fairly and kindly.

The books also teach valuable lesson regarding childrens behavior, respect, and gratefulness, and economic independence, and contentment, and hardship.

The parts of the story that are incompatible to Christian living are not core to the story, and even without calling it out each time, my children very easily, instinctively identify and disregard that behavior. They subconsciously know that this story is not about Christians, nor a contemporary story. My children are used to the fact that much of what is written in story books are not written from a Mennonite perspective or with Mennonite or Christian values.
Things such as Pa being prepared to defend his house with a gun, and staying up all night to do so, don’t need called out by me - they know that we don’t do that, even at 6 years old.

Blackface? That is a nonissue. Historic thing that happened, and they probably don’t even know what it entailed.