============================================================ Norton System Works Pro 2001for only $14.95 or get the 2002 edition for only 24.95 for a limited time!! Get free bonus National Geographics Maps with every order FREE! http://click.topica.com/caaajP4b1ddNBb2HgmNa/MyFreeSoftware ============================================================
1. Brian Smith gets himself in big trouble; Rory comments Brian Smith, loved by many for his Laughing Librarian website, has always liked to push people's buttons and see if he can find the limits of their good humor. It seems to me to be a way of always remaining THE Laughing Librarian (others having stopped laughing at some point along the way, only to laugh again later). This has never really bothered me, though I have used his website's comment form at least once to send him a message that could be interpreted by the world as humorless. Now Brian has gotten himself in some hot water over a satirical bookmark for National Library Week. The text says "Rediscover America," and the graphics show a couple of conquistadors shooting an Indian, who has fallen and is bleeding. A campaign has sprung up, calling Brian racist and calling for him to be censured for extreme insensitivity. Indian Country writes: Subject: Killing A Native for National Library Week No Laughing Matter! http://homepage.interaccess.com/~smitters/lafnlibn/nlw2002.htm This depiction of the murder of an American Indian in support of American Library week is horrendesous! Some guy is producing these bookmarks to use in conjunction with National Library week sponsored by the American Library Association. The people producing this racist bookmarks are the Laughing Librarian, the artist is Brian Smith. This is among the most brutal heinous designs on the web I have ever seen. Please let The American Library Association know this is not amusing, appropriate or justifiable in the year 2002 and they should publicly denounce this bookmark. John W. Berry, ALA President, has called on the ALA Public Information Office to "quickly address this matter." Brian has clearly touched a nerve. But what does the bookmark actually say? "Rediscover America" sounds like something we would read on an official bookmark for National Library Week, or possibly for Columbus Day. Juxtaposed with the image of an invading European killing an Indian it becomes ironic, and states that this is what actually happened when Europeans "discovered" America. They slaughtered Indians. It was heinous and brutal, and it laid the foundation for what is now "America." Suddenly, reminding Americans of the awful truth of our history is apparently considered politically incorrect by the group that would seem to have the greatest interest in reminding us. This reaction is clearly an echo of the original injury, having been brought back from collective memory by a crude image. Brian's bookmark is tactless, minimal in its exposition (to say the least), and not entirely clear, but I do not think it is heinous or brutal. The history it recalls, however, IS both heinous and brutal. That remembering it should be most painful for the descendents of the victims is not surprising, but I think their anger is badly misplaced in this instance. While its cartoon style might be interpreted as trivializing the historical victimization of American Indians, I don't think Brian designed the bookmark with the intention of making fun of Indians at all, but to lampoon the typical ad-speak phrase, "Rediscover America" by proposing a more honest meaning for it. Brian is merely the messenger of an uncomfortable truth about our history. Attack him for being unpatriotic if you like, but please, not as a racist. [Some would say that it's not my place, as a white male, to render any kind of a judgment about what is acceptable in a case like this, that only the group that feels injured has that authority, since I can never understand what it is to be, for example, an American Indian. My answer to that, if you'll allow me to be abstract for a moment, is that a society in which specially entitled rulemakers (whoever they may be) make up the rules as they go along provides no opportunity for FOLLOWING the rules. What I mean is, if you are considered incapable of understanding the law and accordingly not given access to anything static, there is no way to predict when you will be found guilty, no way to defend yourself, and no way to participate in making the law. I am very much in favor of accounting for, and even compensating for power imbalances, but rational discourse depends on everyone affected at least having a voice. Pardon me if this justification for my statement is unnecessary.] Rory Litwin http://www.libr.org/Juice/issues/vol5/LJ_5.15.html#1 Oh - Celebrate National Library Week @ your library http://www.ala.org/pio/nlw/ National Library Week April 14-20, 2002 -- Andr� Cramblit: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Operations Director Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development needs of American Indians and operates an art gallery featuring the art of California tribes (http://www.americanindianonline.com) ============================================================ Do you need to get-away? Finance incredible vacations, interest free, to hundreds of destinations - $3,000 travel credit line with Guaranteed Approval! Vacations for as little as $18/Month! http://click.topica.com/caaajYdb1ddNBb2HgmNf/PlayersVacationClub ============================================================ Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddNB.b2HgmN Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
