It seems there is a scientist who essentially says that Disney's "A Bug's Life" is another example of discrimination against bugs. Check out http://www.usatoday.com/news/nweird.htm for the facts on this one. The problem, you see, is that the animators drew ants with only four legs (gasp!!) rather than the anatomically-correct six. It should be noted that Pixar,the creators of "Antz," made no such faux pas.
Nappy Hair
A teacher in the Bronx reported she faced threats of physical violence after she read a book to her class called "Nappy Hair" last month. This award-winning book is essentially a grandfather praising his granddaughter's amazingly out-of-control hair, described in a way to make her proud of her African heritage. Those who have threatened the teacher say the book is racist, and that the term "nappy hair" is a negative. The teacher, on the other hand, read the story intending to increase the self-confidence of her predominantly black students. More details can be found at http://www.expressnews.com:80/pantheon/e... and http://www.kcstar.com:80/item/pages/opin... . You may also want to check out the reviews (most positive, one very negative) at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0... .
I find the story, which is written in a reponsive style, to be quite beautiful. Here's an excerpt which I especially enjoyed (the first comment is by the grandfather, responded to by other members of the family, and so on):
"The Lord in heaven." "What you say." "The Lord who brought the Israelites out of Egypt." "Yes, he did." "He looked down on this cute brown baby girl." "He looked at her." "He looked at her and he say, `Well done.'" "Yep." "He say, `I got me one.'" "That's what he said." "`One nap of her hair is the only perfect circle in nature.' "
Now, nowhere here do I get the impression this grandfather was mocking his granddaughter. Sure, there are sentences here and there which when taken out of context sound hurtful, but when read as a whole, I thought it was a very loving story. I suggest you read the book and make your own decision here.
The teacher recently requested and received a transfer to another school, where the New York Post reports she is also unwelcome by some parents, whom I suspect may not have bothered to read the now-controversial story. Go to http://www.nypostonline.com:80/120698/ne... for more details.
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