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There’s an early chapter in Charlie and the Glass Elevator that feels like it was written by a racist 11 year old, with the idiot president making fun of every ethnicity in the most banal way possible.

I skipped it when reading the story to my children.




That book always seemed really out there in the Dahl pantheon. I loved reading it as a kid.

I too would skip reading such material to my child. But it wouldn’t bother me for the child to read it themself when they are older. It’s a funny psychological thing: reading aloud to someone risks carrying some perceived level of approval. A child reading it themself can toss the ideas around in their head, take time to process it, question it etc. and surely they can tell that the prose is whimsical and not serious.


Surely it’s not racist to make fun of every ethnicity?


I can think of times it can be.

“All white people are slave owners”

“All black people love watermelon”

“All jews love money”

“All indians love curry”

etc.

Even if you’re not picking on a single group, you can still be perpetuating untrue (and even potentially harmful) stereotypes.




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