Quite possibly one of the most offensive ebay auctions

*WARNING: If you are Black and easily offended, please be aware that this is quite offensive*

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...47539763&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW#ShippingPayment

 

sick shitheads i remember a book in Denmark that are now not availble because of the name Little Black Sambo so people are people

or for that matter The Elephants Lollaby lyricks(it is a song) were revised because in the original they say" tomorrow you will get a negro boy and that you can use as a rattle".

now it is tomorrow you will get a negro boy doll and that you can use as a rattle but still that child song is quite racial anyway.

 

uh..well the book is apparently over 100 years old. I know you like to think the world has been great and all, but even 40 years ago racism happened. It's not like this guy wrote this today or anything..

 

True, but the tone of the posting is what's bothersome. It really seems like the seller misses the days when you could use the n-word.

 

In some respects he has to use *that* word as it's in the title of the book. But yeah, the rest of it's a little... whats the word... offending.

40 years ago? funny that, I could have sworn it was still rampant in today's society, I seem to remember a number of murders/assaults recently that were racially motivated.

 

I was going to say I'd personally just throw it away, but seeing that it's at $183 without meeting reserve I guess I'd think twice. Some people are just messed up, paying that sort of money for that sort of junk.

 

It's no different to people collecting Nazi war memorabilia/relics.

 

You'd be shocked at how much some Nazi war relics (memorabilia isn't the best term here) go for. I know it is banned in a lot of European countries but here some items can go from hundreads to over a million dollars.

 

I know, that's why I brought it up, it's directly comparable to this auction.

When I were a lad (cue mournful reminiscent violin music):

We used to have compilation video's sold everywhere, with cartoons from ages ago. I'm sure Yakumo would have seen these as he is of the same generation, and a lot of the cartoons were of the more... non PC variety. Things like "little savage pete" (made up, but that sort of terminology) of a stereotypical black child (oversized white lips, afro etc), playing in a loincloth in the jungle, fighting lions and shit like that.

Back then, this wasn't seen as racist (just a bit "tongue in cheek" like all the gay jokes back then), and I certainly didn't think "all black people live in the jungle fighting lions, and get shot up the arse by rich white hunters with their blunderbuss' "

While it is looked down upon now, back then it was just the way people were. Much like how white people oppressed the American indians, yet still glorify the cowboy day's. The fact there are more black people compared to Native American Indians, means one is racist while the other is "heritage". Now im not going on an anti-american thing, but you can't deny the similarities. Give it another few years and im sure things like old cowboy movies will be strictly controlled so as to not cause offence.

 

well seeing as how groups like the KKK are a shell of their former selves and that we have a black woman as secretary of state, racism is no where near as bad and as open as it was, even in the 60's or so...

 

Yeah, I don't think this seller is racist at all, this book is a part of history after all. I guess it goes to show how far society has come since 1895. You'd think something like this would be in a museum or something, so people never forget just how racial attitudes have changed.

I have a tape called "wierd cartoons," which among Godzilla vs. Bambi and surreal Betty Boop cartoons, also has one called "Little black Sambo" that is exactly like what you describe Takichoma. There's even a part where a tiger scares him "white." So totally racist it makes you uncomfortable to even watch it.

But, how different is this than say your usual Hollywood black comedy where they heavily depend on racial sterotypes? Like that moive Friday, or Rush Hour, or whatever. Why is it racist to show black people eating fried chicken, drinking the gin and juice, etc. when it's a cartoon from the 1930s but not when it's a movie that came out last year?

I guess it all has to do with exploitation and tastefulness, as in if it's something created by white people for a racist audience, then it's "racist," while if it's created by white people for a non-racist audience it's "edgy" or "raw." A fine line that a lot of people cross by accident (anyone remember those political cartoons of Condalizza Rice when she was going through the senate confirmation hearings?)

 

the old superman cartoons were pretty racist also, that was in like the 40's...

 

To be honest, whilst that is considered racist now, and always was by members of the black community, I don't really see that the seller has done anything wrong.

All the seller has done is accurately titled the auction. If you were searching for this book, then you'd search for that. To be honest, the seller could have expanded on the title to appeal to those engraving collectors they mention, but other than that, they haven't really done anything wrong. The description is accurate, and describes what it is. Yes it used the title twice, and for those thinking the second time is referring to the characters in the book, I think not. The seller uses quotation marks to clearly define this.

What the seller did do which is pretty silly is scan the whole damn book in! OK, so it isn't exactly a great read, it is only for collectors, but there you have a copy if you're only into it for the engravings!

Yeah, it is a distasteful item, but I don't see why the seller shouldn't sell it. You might well find it distasteful, but you don't have to buy it or pick it up. You can get Playboy number 1 on ebay - many women would find that distateful, and lots of men too. Do you?

Why shouldn't someone sell a book they have? That book isn't illegal.

 

"Little black Sambo"

That was the one, and as soon as you said about the lion scaring the kid white, I remembered it was the same cartoons. Shocking by today's standards, and you probably couldn't buy it anywhere without being frowned upon, but at the time, it was "the norm"

 

I think this merely reflects the change in how we think of our differences. This book would be considered offensive nowadays, but that does not directly imply that either this book or the seller is "wrong" - it merely shows how subjective our "values" can be. I am not condoning racism in any way, it is just that our definition of it has changed. And I hardly believe that this book suddenly convinced anyone to change their view on black people.

 

hmmmm me and my father collects blade weapons (we both have a permit to collect swords and other bladed weapons but not switchblades butterfly knifes and other consealable weapons)

but anyways he and i bought a knife and we looked at the knife and saw it was made in Thoringen (in Germany if i remember right)

and suddenly my father saw a rune scribed in to the blade

and now we know it is a Hitler Jugend knife

(Hitler Jugend = Hitler Youth)

quite scary but here it is not illegal we can even buy Mein Kampf uncensored (sick but true)

but i hate racial thing anyway.

 

Yes, the BOOK is wrong. Maybe that's why the seller is selling it.

Still, the AUCTION itself isn't offensive. It is just someone selling a book. If you don't like the look of it, don't look. Sure, maybe he should have just taken a pic of the cover and left it at that. Like I said though, if you went to a REAL auction and saw this, you'd just ignore it. Just like you ignore the framed artwork for that John Lennon cover where he's naked, if it isn't to your taste. The book may be offensive by today's standards, but it isn't illegal, and it is a collectable. There is nothing wrong with selling it on eBay, as far as I know it isn't against their rules, and it isn't like it is a modern piece of hate literature. The seller isn't intending to offend, I would imagine.

It is like that whole thing of banning Gollys because of the term Golliwog, which is offensive. Personally, I think I'd be able to draw the line at that. OK, that may be where the term came from, but a golliwog is a child's toy. We don't have them now, so where's the harm in looking at a toy of the past and saying "oh, nice golliwog"?

 

Anyone notice the seller's name? Rebel Soldier...doesn't seem to be someone that would care about the politics of the book. Maybe he's just a big civil war buff... certainly has lots of other civil war shit he's selling.

 

Lol I found that book on eBay years ago

 

It may just be that I'm an American, but does anyone else find it stupid to need a permit to collect swords or knives? Not bashing you or your country at all, but that's a bit much.

Anyway, have not looked at the auction yet, but the little black sambo thing has been around forever. In fact there used to be a resturant called Sambos... I shit you not! While the kid was not black, he kind of looked like Hadji from Johnny Quest, but with a little lighter skin tone. There mascot was a tiger, but it had that whole jungle hunter feel to it, just like the cartoons mentioned.

It's a shame that all countries had a period when the race of others was an issue and still do in most. Right or wrong it's part of history.