So like people are always like “how can you talk about these important social justice issues like race and sexuality etc with children it’s just too advanced and it doesn’t really come into play at all in their life they’re just children they don’t think about race”Â
which is complete bullshit and YOU SHOULD ALWAYS START SOCIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION EARLY
which brings me to The Berenstain Bears New Neighbors.
I frickin loved this series when I was a little kid (they even had cool summary poems in the beginning of each little book!)
but this book is awesome becauseÂ
a) the Panda bears are clearly a metaphor for Chinese people moving in and this type of racist attitude that many asian communities faced on the track to being model minorities
b) Papa bear is racist and literally gets called out by Mama Bear who is like “fuck this shit, how can you hate ppl on sight?”
C) and Papa Bear says some real racist shit and like Brother and Sister Bear literally are like “we don’t understand this logic” WHICH SHOWS HOW RACISM HAS TO BE TAUGHT
D) and when Papa Bear is like “well they’re DIFFERENT!” Mama Bear throws down some serious calling out. Like IN FRONT OF THE KIDS. No holds barred, she goes “you’re being silly, like you complain when we eat the same thing every day for a couple of days and you’re totally happy when we eat different things and if you’re that accepting about food what does that say about the way you view people.”Â
E) Which is like absolutely the most amazing display of rhetoric in a children’s book ever
F) also at the end of the book after Papa Bear has basically been like “Grumble grumble grumble they ARE DIFFERENT GRUMBLE” they go to this BBQ that the new family hosts and they serve BARBECUE BAMBOO SHOOTS and Papa Bear is like “oh damn this is delicious”
G) which, like, Speaks to me as a Chinese woman because lord knows, y’all may call us shit for being different but y’all really do scarf down our food like nobody’s businessÂ
H) and the last shot is this perplexed Panda Mama surrounded by a whole bunch of (white) Bears going “mmmm! Delicious! So good” and she’s giving them the side eye and it just reminded me of all the times when I was little when my friends would come over and my mom would fry up some like spam or vienna with eggs and rice and they would just like shit their pants and my mom would be like “…OK then white ppl have lower standards clearly” Like literally the last panel is HILARIOUS and I love this book and I don’t care if ppl think it’s awkward OK it was amazingÂ
tangentwithtanner
ellievsbear
snowghoul
