Captain Underpants spin-off, The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, pulled for 'passive racism'
A graphic novel for children that was a spin-off of the wildly popular Captain Underpants series is being pulled from library and book store shelves after its publisher said it “perpetuates passive racism”.
The decision came after a Korean American father of two young children started a petition asking for an apology. The book under scrutiny is 2010′s The Adventures of Ook and Gluk by Dav Pilkey, who has apologised, saying it “contains harmful racial stereotypes” and is “wrong and harmful to my Asian readers”.
The book follows a pair of friends who travel from 500,001 BC to 2222, where they meet a martial arts instructor who teaches them kung fu and they learn principles found in Chinese philosophy.
Scholastic said it had removed the book from its websites, stopped processing orders for it and sought a return of all inventory.
Pilkey in a YouTube statement said he planned to donate his advance and all royalties from the book’s sales to groups dedicated to stopping violence against Asians and to promoting diversity in children’s books and publishing.
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Explicitly racist abuse not deemed illegal in Australia
The campaigner who successfully pushed to get Coon cheese renamed has had his racism complaint terminated despite receiving an abusive email saying he had an “ugly black face”.
The hate mail, sent to Aboriginal anti-racism activist Dr Stephan Hagan by Don Harris on January 14, said he was “part of the world’s dumbest race” and “a broken, conquered people”.
Harris referred to a “miserable black existence” and “absolute inferiority to the white man”, concluding with “May the Aryan man rule forever” and attaching further white supremacist quotes.
Dr Hagan said the email had caused him and his wife “considerable distress”, adding that he felt “violated and fear for my safety and that of my family all because I dared to challenge the status quo of a racial slur used on a popular cheese brand.”
However, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Monday told Dr Hagan that it had decided to terminate the complaint without inquiry.
“I am satisfied that it is misconceived and/or lacking in substance,” said the response to the complaint from Jodie Ball, the Commission president’s delegate.
She said she understood Dr Hagan would be “disappointed” by the decision but that he had “not sufficiently explained” which human right had been violated or how that right had been impaired.
“I acknowledge that you found the content of the email offensive and upsetting and that due to prior experiences where you say you were abused and threatened, the email made you feel concerned about you and your family’s safety,” wrote Ms Ball.
But she said that the incident did not meet the threshold to qualify as racial hatred under the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) because it did not take place in public.
“It is arguable that the email that is the subject of your complaint is an act done because of your race, colour or national or ethnic origin and that it would be reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a reasonable person of your race, colour or national or ethnic origin,” said Ms Ball. “However, from the information provided to date, the email does not meet the requirement in the law that it is an act done ‘otherwise than in private’.”
She said the email was sent directly to Dr Hagan via email, and that while he claimed the information was now in the public domain after news outlets covered the Commission’s original response, “it appears that this is because you spoke publicly about the email that you received, rather than because the writer of the email caused the words and image to be communicated to the public.”
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS -- daily)
http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)
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