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Popular Children’s Book Condemned in Belgium for — Wait for It — Raaaaacism!

Posted on | June 5, 2010 | 12 Comments

A new lesson in the bizarre nature of Europe’s “human rights” laws:

Belgium’s courts are investigating whether Tintin’s 1931 Congolese adventures, when the country was a Belgian colony, portrays black Africans in a racist way . . .
Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Brussels-based Congolese man, has spent the last three years pursuing Tintin’s copyright holders and publisher in the civil and criminals courts.
“This book contains images and dialogue of a manifestly racist and offensive nature not only to blacks but to the whole of humanity,” said Ahmed L’Hedim, Mr Mondondo’s lawyer.
“It is simply unbearable to my client that his children could come across this book and feel insulted.”
In 2007, Britain’s Commission for Racial Equality accused the Tintin book of making black Africans “look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles”.
British editions of Tintin Au Congo have not been banned but are now sold with a band of paper around the cover, warning the content is offensive.

Right. Under the pretzel-logic of “human rights,” Belgium must not only open its borders to Congolese immigrants, but must shield them from possible insult by a children’s book first published 79 years ago.

OK, so what about old Tarzan movies? What about Gone With the Wind? And what other groups will now demand that Belgium suppress publication of anything that might offend them? Will Disney be sued over the depictions of Arabs in Aladdin?

This kind of political correctness run amok is enough to make you understand why Vlaams Belang is so popular in Belgium.

Category: Culture, Foreigners, Racism, The Flemish Menace

Comments

12 Responses to “Popular Children’s Book Condemned in Belgium for — Wait for It — Raaaaacism!”

  1. Tin Tin
    June 5th, 2010 @ 3:40 pm

    Ne demandez pas, ne dites pas.

  2. Tin Tin
    June 5th, 2010 @ 11:40 am

    Ne demandez pas, ne dites pas.

  3. skyguy
    June 5th, 2010 @ 4:13 pm

    Er, it hasn’t actually passed the courts yet has it, so it doesn’t say much about human rights law. And it’s in the Belgian courts still, not the European Court of Human Rights. I don’t think it should be banned, but it is pretty appalling – black people look like monkeys, are stupid and ignorant. Belgium is presented as benign and paternalistic, despite being one of the most brutal colonial powers ever. Should definitely have a note at the start, and not be stocked with children’s books.

    And as far as I can see, issues of race relations are much more incendiary in America than most European countries, and dealt with much more politically correctly, at least in the MSM.

  4. skyguy
    June 5th, 2010 @ 12:13 pm

    Er, it hasn’t actually passed the courts yet has it, so it doesn’t say much about human rights law. And it’s in the Belgian courts still, not the European Court of Human Rights. I don’t think it should be banned, but it is pretty appalling – black people look like monkeys, are stupid and ignorant. Belgium is presented as benign and paternalistic, despite being one of the most brutal colonial powers ever. Should definitely have a note at the start, and not be stocked with children’s books.

    And as far as I can see, issues of race relations are much more incendiary in America than most European countries, and dealt with much more politically correctly, at least in the MSM.

  5. ABP
    June 5th, 2010 @ 5:19 pm

    It would be hard to be more stereotypically offensive than the Ugandan poopoo guy (and I mean offensive about black africans, forget about the poopoo eaters). When are they going to go after him?

  6. ABP
    June 5th, 2010 @ 1:19 pm

    It would be hard to be more stereotypically offensive than the Ugandan poopoo guy (and I mean offensive about black africans, forget about the poopoo eaters). When are they going to go after him?

  7. young4eyes
    June 5th, 2010 @ 10:31 pm

    It’s fascinating to see the uproar by Conservatives about Belgians and how they deal with their issues. I suspect that it is easier to talk about than dealing with issues closer to home.
    It makes me smile to see the shock-shock!- by some Conservatives as to how some feel about Nikki Haley’s cultural background.Of course, that this is par for the course as to Conservative attitudes towards the President is one thing. But the indignation is far fetched.
    It makes me wonder why no-one on the Right sphere of the blog world has brought up the issue of the Arizona school that is going to “whiten” the faces on a school mural due to the anger of some racist rednecks? Curious how no Conservative politico or commentator has an issue with this? But god forbid that an ex-Beatle make a joke about George Bush. That’s when the pitchforks come out.
    Yeah, Conservatism still wallows in the bottom of the swamp of American culture….

  8. young4eyes
    June 5th, 2010 @ 6:31 pm

    It’s fascinating to see the uproar by Conservatives about Belgians and how they deal with their issues. I suspect that it is easier to talk about than dealing with issues closer to home.
    It makes me smile to see the shock-shock!- by some Conservatives as to how some feel about Nikki Haley’s cultural background.Of course, that this is par for the course as to Conservative attitudes towards the President is one thing. But the indignation is far fetched.
    It makes me wonder why no-one on the Right sphere of the blog world has brought up the issue of the Arizona school that is going to “whiten” the faces on a school mural due to the anger of some racist rednecks? Curious how no Conservative politico or commentator has an issue with this? But god forbid that an ex-Beatle make a joke about George Bush. That’s when the pitchforks come out.
    Yeah, Conservatism still wallows in the bottom of the swamp of American culture….

  9. Dr. Evil
    June 5th, 2010 @ 11:40 pm

    I don’t speak freaky deaky Dutch, even though I was raised by Belgians in Bruges.

  10. Dr. Evil
    June 5th, 2010 @ 7:40 pm

    I don’t speak freaky deaky Dutch, even though I was raised by Belgians in Bruges.

  11. Fritz Katz
    June 6th, 2010 @ 4:28 am

    young4eyes, you are a silly person and your spoutings are inconsequential.
    ______

    Now the order has come down that Tintin must be vilified, any childrens books by the author Herge must be removed from the world’s libraries, burned, and eventually his memory must be erased from the mind of man.

    Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that it’s not raaaaacism that’s motivating the cultural goons atacking Tintin. The author, Herge, was an ardent anti-communist. In one of his cartoon books, he even sent Tintin to Soviet Russia to observe the horrors of communism in action.

    As we move toward the eventual socialist state of global progressive governance, our children and their children, will not be allowed to see books by Herge. It might cause them to feel uncomfortable about the world they are forced to live in.

  12. Fritz Katz
    June 6th, 2010 @ 12:28 am

    young4eyes, you are a silly person and your spoutings are inconsequential.
    ______

    Now the order has come down that Tintin must be vilified, any childrens books by the author Herge must be removed from the world’s libraries, burned, and eventually his memory must be erased from the mind of man.

    Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that it’s not raaaaacism that’s motivating the cultural goons atacking Tintin. The author, Herge, was an ardent anti-communist. In one of his cartoon books, he even sent Tintin to Soviet Russia to observe the horrors of communism in action.

    As we move toward the eventual socialist state of global progressive governance, our children and their children, will not be allowed to see books by Herge. It might cause them to feel uncomfortable about the world they are forced to live in.