Beyond the Secret Garden? ‘We English’: Nonfiction and Belonging in Children’s Literature
‘The races of men found on the earth are many in number. But they may be reduced to three, namely, White men, Black men, and Tawny men. We English belong to the White race of men.’ (112; The Holborn Series Geographical Reader No. 2: Geographical Terms. London: Educational Supply Company, 1899.)
Following the 1870 Elementary Education Act, British publishers began expanding textbook production to include subjects now required for certain groups of (and eventually all) British primary students; one of these subjects was geography. In the UK, this was not only a study of physical land and climate features, but also focused on people, culture, and economics—particularly of the British Empire. The geography quoted above was typical of the discussion of differences between people; initially based on skin color only, the differences quickly expand to the ‘uses’ of different groups of people. The Holborn reader suggests that the skin of Black men allows them to ‘carry on certain employments which it would be hard to carry on without them’ (110), such as sugar cane and cotton production. ‘This is because they are able to bear the hot tropical sun, when white men would die under it’ (110).
In the latest in their Beyond the Secret Garden feature, Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor consider representations of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic voices in reference books for children.
Seventy years later, these claims were still common in children’s geographies. The 1969 reference book Family of Man had Lady Plowden on its editorial board. Plowden’s report on education had, in 1967, suggested that children’s books in schools be re-evaluated for ‘out of date attitudes towards foreigners, coloured people, and even coloured dolls’ (71). However, Family of Man includes a discussion of the three race theory. Family of Man labels the three races ‘Mongoloids, Negroids, and Caucasoids’ (11) and states that ‘In the hot climate of Africa people with dark brown skins, dark eyes and thick wooly dark brown hair usually lived longest’ because ‘They were better protected against the burning sun’ (12).
Usborne published a similar reference book, entitled Peoples of the World; it is interesting that the 1978 and 1990 versions of the book contains the racial separation (they include four races, adding the Australoid race), but a 2001 version, completely revamped, says only, ‘Sometimes differences in appearance can help you recognize where a person might be from. But people have been moving around, or migrating, for thousands of years, so most countries have many different types of people’ (7).
Family of Man also goes on to define different groups, religions, and historical periods connected with movement of and change in people. The section on ‘West Indians’ suggests that ‘settlers began to buy Negro slaves’ (54). No mention is made of the settlers’ origins, but the next paragraph, which opens, ‘Then European families came from Spain, France and Britain’ to the West Indies (54) elides British involvement in slavery. The end of the section argues, ‘There are too few jobs for people in the West Indies and so many have been forced to leave their homes and find work in other lands. Many West Indians have settled in English-speaking countries, such as Britain’ (54). This passage not only excuses the white British from involvement in slavery, it completely erases the unequal connection between Britain and its (former) colonies. This makes the West Indies both responsible for its own demise (‘not enough jobs’ apparently has nothing to do with British underdevelopment of the region) and also dependent on Britain to save them (but only because they speak English).
It is easy to forget that until recently, the idea of the Windrush generation was not a phrase in common parlance. A close look at two books published just four years apart, reveals significant variation, not only as to what parts of history are told, but also how history is written for children. The Empire Windrush by Clive Gifford was published in 2014 as part of the Big Cat reading scheme. The Story of the Windrush by K.N. Chimbiri was published in 2018 through the authors’ own publishing company, Golden Destiny.
There are subtle, yet important differences in how each book
contextualises the story of ‘The Empire Windrush’ arriving at Tilbury Docks in 1948. Whereas Chimbiri’s book includes reference to London Transport and the National Health Service advertising for staff in the Caribbean, Gifford’s text reads, ‘From 1948, the UK government allowed people living in places that it ruled, including the West Indies, to move to Britain’ (6). ‘Allowed’ is a curious word, suggesting benevolence on the part of Britain, rather than a war-torn nation in need of West Indian assistance.
16 Books for Keeps No.233 November 2018
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