# Why is Little Black Sambo racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 10, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908 "2008-09-10T06:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/81 "2014-06-08T04:15:39Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > ‘Come for the racism. Stay for the food!’ 😉 Rather than give this an appropriate response, I will note that this is a six-year-old post and not in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/82 "2014-06-08T04:47:18Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Now there’s a rewritten version, [The Story of Little Babaji](http://www.amazon.com/Story-Little-Babaji-Helen-Bannerman/dp/0062050648/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221057767&sr=1-1), with different names, where the family is just supposed to be a nice Indian family with a clever son. The Amazon review: > > So you can now read the story to your kids without all the awfulness, if that’s what you want to do. I’m not sure it sold very well; a lot of people are still uncomfortable with it. I kind of want that, and I kind of hate that none of them have _name_ names. (Also, isn’t “Babaji” kind of like “Father”–as in a holy man? So…that’s a little goofy.) > [@Musicat](#): > > My mother, a teacher of primary grades all her life, had the book (probably the Little Golden version, I’m not sure) in the classroom library in the 50’s. No one considered it racist; it was just a funny folkish fable (mmm…pancakes…and tigers turning into butter, indeed!). When her classroom was integrated, the black children discovered the book and instead of being insulted, they made it their favorite. Caricatures or not, they could identify more with Black Sambo than they could with Dick and Jane. Well, you would think so. > [@Lamia](#): > > Considering that both “Oriental” and “Asian” can apply to a very broad area, I’d consider “Asian” more useful. This is partially because at least it refers to a real geographic region, but mostly because it is the term preferred by the people to whom it applies (again, at least in the US). If greater specificity is needed, “East Asian” is unlikely to cause offense and is more clear than “Oriental” without taking any longer to say. :long sigh: “Far Eastern” would make more sense. The Archipelagic nations (the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia) are not on the Asian continent. And we’ve already noted that “Asian” in the UK means “south Asian” and “Oriental” is used for “Far Eastern.” > [@mswas](#): > > Sambo’s just all around awesome, and so is his Mother compared to those degenerate rejects in the European fable land. While we’re at, so is Brer Rabbit. Well, of course. He’s a rabbit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/83 "2014-06-08T05:52:33Z")
> [@XT](#): > > This one should be left to die or be locked and buried under a chicken coup. I knew they were planning this ! I told ‘em so ! Time and again. Sixty years I’ve been predicting this. Back when I was a young’un Maw sent me with the scraps afore school to feed the lil’ varmints an’ I watched and _learned_. Have you ever really looked into a hen’s eye ? Have you set back and listened to their clucks ? _ **Really** _ listened ? I’ve been writing to my congressman twice a week and the president oncet a month for decades saying **Der Chicken Tag** is a’comin’; and been visited by secret government officials now and again. I may not think a deal of that commie heathen in the White House, but he is our president and deserves fair warning. _It’s comin’, I know it’s comin’ Don’t be the ones to say we didn’t warn ya Disneyland is burning, time to send in all the clowns All aboard… Last stop, California. All aboard… Last stop, California._ Thank you for your service. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/84 "2014-06-08T08:29:57Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > **Tim R. Mortiss** : thank you! > > (By the way – with a snapping of fingers and clicking of heels in mid-air – I’m a huge Jack Vance fan.) Ooh, you’re really not going to like what you see hanging over your garden wall, then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/85 "2014-06-08T09:24:16Z")
20-some years ago I read a book analyzing the degeneration of the Little Black Sambo story from an uplifting children’s story about the little son of some Maharajah, to a squalid tale of a little black swamp trash kid in backwoods Alabam. One of the salient events in the history of the story was its importation into the United States. Originally set in India (if you remember the story mosaics they had at all Sambo’s Restaurants, he usually wore an Indian style turban with a large gem stone in it); the American editions tended to set it in the poor American South, and portray the family as being dirt poor (dining outdoors at a bare wooden table without a tablecloth, for example), with exaggerated Black stereotypes (the big lips, etc). Peter Pan Records released an ethnically cleansed Politically Correctified record telling the story, along with a book. In their telling, our hero became [Little Brave Sambo](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12949397-little-brave-sambo), where he was drawn as a little white kid with red hair, ruddy complexion, and freckles. Walt Kelly did a story arc in Pogo in which one of the characters (I forget which) tells a Walt Kellified version of the story. But the other Pogo characters, listening to the story, objected to Sambo being Black or any other color that the teller could think of. So he ended up being Little Plaid Sambo, and was drawn with Plaid skin. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/86 "2014-06-08T09:43:07Z")
Okay, here’s a cite for what I wrote just above. The [Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia](http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/location.htm) at Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan, has [this page](http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/picaninny/) on the subject of: The Black Child Portrayed as Picaninny. Scroll down half-way; there’s a discussion of Little Black Sambo. The original edition, and the first American edition, portrayed Sambo positively: > [@](#): > > In 1898 there “came into her head, evolved by the moving of a train,” the entertaining story of a little black boy, beautifully clothed, who outwits a succession of tigers, and not only saves his own life but gets a stack of tiger-striped pancakes (Bader, 1996, p. 536). The story eventually became Little Black Sambo. The book appeared in England in 1899 and was an immediate success. The next year it was published in the United States by Frederick A. Stokes, a mainstream publisher. It was even more successful than it had been in England. Subsequent American editions, mostly unauthorized, not so positive: > [@](#): > > The book’s success led to many imitators – and controversies. Barbara Bader (1996), a book critic, summarized the events. > > All American children did not see the same book, however. Though the authorized Stokes edition sold well and never went out of print, a host of other versions quickly began to appear from mass-market publishers, from reprint houses, from small, outlying firms unconstrained by the mutual courtesies of the major publishers. A few are straight knock-offs of the book that Bannerman made, without her name on the title page; the majority were reillustrated – with gross, degrading caricatures that set Sambo down on the old plantation or, with equal distortiveness, deposited him in Darkest Africa. Libraries stocked the Stokes edition, and a few others selectively. But overall the bootleg Sambos were much cheaper, more widely distributed, and vastly more numerous.(pp. 537-538) ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/87 "2014-06-08T12:47:25Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > **Tim R. Mortiss** : thank you! > > There was a Los Angeles City Councilman who got in trouble when he referred to a black man as “Curly.” It came out that he called everyone “Curly.” It was just a (bad!) habit he had. He never thought of it as racially related in any way. But one person did, there was trouble, and the Councilman stopped that habit right away. > > (By the way – with a snapping of fingers and clicking of heels in mid-air – I’m a huge Jack Vance fan.) I worked with a guy who called everyone 'chief"…except for our coworker from the Arikara tribe. He was just Cletus. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/88 "2014-06-09T01:34:36Z")
> [@bmani](#): > > For anyone who still cares, the name Sambo comes from the Sanskrit Śambhu (Shambu), and in Tamil the ‘Sh’ often becomes ‘S,’ with a deepening of the final vowel from ‘u’ to ‘o.’ There’s your Madras (Chennai) link. And for the posters who don’t seem to understand why this is racist, go keep rewriting the history you pretend not to benefit from: call an older black man “George” in Chicago and see what happens. After all, it’s not your fault, it’s just a name. Sarcasm fully intended. And when you remove head from ass, go learn something about the history of colonialism and race. And what does the word Sambhu mean? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/89 "2014-06-09T04:48:03Z")
> [@XT](#): > > The OP (along with a bunch of other posters in this small 2 page thread) was banned and I doubt he’s still following this zombie thread. This one should be left to die or be locked and buried under a chicken coup. Why the kneejerk reaction? The poster responded with relevant but not yet posted info that added factually to the discussion (assuming the info provided was correct). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/90 "2014-06-09T13:00:27Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Anyway. I just read that Little Black Sambo and all I have to say is what the fuck…? Is he Indian or is he black? Indian kids aren’t generally _black_. He’s from India, and the word the Brit’s used to describe them was ‘black’. They were also called “asian”, which is another word you might use differently, and I’ve never read anything that called them “Indian”: perhaps, in context, Afghan, Pathan, Sikh or Bengali. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/91 "2014-06-09T15:17:24Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Anyway. I just read that Little Black Sambo and all I have to say is what the fuck…? Is he Indian or is he black? Indian kids aren’t generally _black_. The Dravidians of southern India are as dark-skinned as any African. (But do not have kinky hair.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/92 "2014-06-09T16:03:39Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > He’s from India, and the word the Brit’s used to describe them was ‘black’. They were also called “asian”, which is another word you might use differently, and I’ve never read anything that called them “Indian”: perhaps, in context, Afghan, Pathan, Sikh or Bengali. You’ve never read anything that called Indians “Indians”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/93 "2014-06-10T07:54:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And what does the word Sambhu mean? “Being or existing for happiness or welfare, granting or causing happiness, beneficent, benevolent, helpful, kind”. It’s an epithet of the deity Shiva, and a very popular male given name in India (more commonly transcribed Shambhu). The famous Bengali actor/director [Sombhu Mitra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombhu_Mitra) was so named. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/94 "2014-06-10T16:05:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The Dravidians of southern India are as dark-skinned as any African. Are those the regular Dravidians, or the branch Dravidians? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/95 "2014-06-11T01:10:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Are those the regular Dravidians, or the branch Dravidians? Well played sir. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/96 "2014-06-11T09:00:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You’ve never read anything that called Indians “Indians”? :dubious: Personally, I don’t recall reading anything where people from India were called “Indians”. I’m aware that Native Americans were called “Indians” because that was a translation of a term attributed to Columbus, which may be one reason why I’ve never heard or seen the term attached to a person from India. Indian Restaurant, yes. I don’t doubt that I could use the word “Indian” to refer to a person or people where the context was clear, particularly where the context did not indicate an actual region or ethnic origin, but I personally have never read that word being used in English or Australian literature (like LBS), and I don’t think it is commonly used as a colloquial term in Aus speach. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/97 "2014-06-25T15:53:49Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Personally, I don’t recall reading anything where people from India were called “Indians”. What else is there to call them? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/98 "2014-06-25T16:44:16Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Personally, I don’t recall reading anything where people from India were called “Indians”. I’m aware that Native Americans were called “Indians” because that was a translation of a term attributed to Columbus, which may be one reason why I’ve never heard or seen the term attached to a person from India. Then you don’t read much. ETA: or Australian media is very strange. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/99 "2014-06-25T18:32:13Z")
[Demonym: Indian.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India) ---
**Author:** ![Bert\_Nobbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bert\_Nobbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bert_Nobbins)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908/100 "2014-06-25T18:49:21Z")
The story in this book sounds completely unacceptable. We’re not short of butter, but we are short of tigers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-little-black-sambo-racist/462908.md?page=6)