"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated January 10, 1926:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (NOVEMBER 11, 2021):
Oh, Winsor… you've had a few missteps lately, but I can't remember the last time we saw a strip so egregiously racist. - 1/20
This strip is an example of Western creators perpetuating myths about African culture and misrepresenting the people who live there…- 2/20
These sorts of depictions, which were very common in the early-mid 1900s, did unimaginable damage throughout the years and contributed to the construction of structural and systemic issues regarding race that are still being dealt with today. - 3/20
Exemplified through this strip is the myth of the savage African (or the cannibalistic African), which was often enlisted to serve the purposes of white supremacy during the Jim Crow/post-emancipation era. - 4/20
As Riggs (1987) makes clear in his documentary, "Ethnic Notions," perpetuating the image of Black Americans (through misrepresentations of Africa) as savage helped to ensure that they were seen as unfit for White American society, thus justifying segregation and other racist policies. - 5/20
Obviously, this strip functions within that framework of Jim Crow era, white supremacist art and popular culture; it's impossible to see the lies and generalizations told within this strip and not associate the two. - 6/20
Beyond its failures here, it also fails on other levels. - 7/20
For instance, Impie has been unable to communicate to his friends, nor the reader, since about the time he was introduced (his short-lived knowledge of English notwithstanding) and yet the reader can read and understand the words of the tribe members? - 8/20
Of course, permitting these characters to speak English (if only for the reader to understand) serves the purposes of the narrative; McCay's readers might not understand what was going on otherwise. - 9/20
But, more than that, it functions to perpetuate the stereotypes discussed above (namely that they are cannibals who pray to a paganistic deity or provider). - 10/20
Impie has never been permitted agency in this way. His communication (or lack thereof) is often a point of discussion and criticism within the strip. So what gives? Why let us understand these random characters, but not Impie? - 11/20
Well, for starters, Impie's silence serves McCay's narrative. Impie is often the one who takes the blame for the mischief either caused by others or caused by his "ignorance" (or at least that's how it is often depicted). - 12/20
Furthermore, it also acts to uphold those same lies and myths about Black Americans (through caricature) that suggested they were unfit for White society. - 13/20
Whether this was a conscious or unconscious decision on the part of Winsor McCay, I don't think we’ll ever know. But it's there in the work and must be grappled with. - 14/20
The difficult part is reading this strip. That said, I do still believe that this racist work can be coerced to serve the purposes of anti-racist and anti-oppression education today if handled appropriately. - 15/20
It is a part of history that contributed to the systems of oppression that exist today and, as such, can offer insight into a) how we got here and b) how we can reject the residue of these lies that might still exist in our culture today. - 16/20
As is often the case with these racist strips, there are elements that I would've enjoyed had they not been a part of *this* strips. - 17/20
Flip's grawlixes in panel 5 or the brilliant use of perspective as the boat inches ever closer to the shoreline in tiers one and two… they could all offer some interesting formal discussion. - 18/20
But, there is a larger and more important conversation to be had surrounding this strip and, at least until the day when we have achieved the goals of social justice for all, it deserves the most attention. - 19/20
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #498. What's yours? - 20/20