Is Remi a racist?

La bande dessinée "Tintin au Congo", réalisée à la fin des années 20 par le célèbre dessinateur belge Georges Prosper Remi alias Hergé, a été reléguée au rayon "pour adultes" par le groupe américain Borders qui la vend dans ses librairies en Grande-Bretagne.

Le CRE, la Commission pour l'Egalité Raciale (Commission for Racial Equality) britannique demande même que le groupe américain Borders la retire de tous les rayons de ses librairies. La commission s'est interéssée à "Tintin au Congo" après avoir été contactée par David Enright, un lecteur Britannique blanc dont l'épouse est noire. Ce dernier avait vu la BD en vente le mois dernier à Londres :

"J'ai été attéré de voir page après page les Noirs africains représentés comme des babouins et des singes, parlant comme des attardés et s'incliner devant un adolescent blanc (...) Le chien de Tintin, Milou, est couronné roi. Vous faites la promotion de l'idée raciste selon laquelle les Noirs sont prédisposés à la violence et doivent être menés, guidés et commandés par des Blancs, et même par des chiens" avait écrit ce dernier.

Selon les déclarations de la porte-parole du CRE, la bande dessinée contient des mots qui causent un préjudice racial, et dépeint notamment des "autochtones sauvages qui ressemblent à des singes et parlent comme des imbéciles".


Source: The web.



The adventures of Tintin in the Congo will be moved from the children's shelves in Borders bookstores across the country and placed in the adult graphic novels section after the book was criticised for having allegedly racist content.
The Commission for Racial Equality said yesterday it was unacceptable for any shop to stock or sell the 1930s cartoon adventure of the Belgian boy journalist because of its crude racial stereotypes.

The book, which includes a scene where Tintin is made chief of an African village because he is a "good white man" and a black woman bowing to Tintin saying: "White man very great ... white mister is big juju man!" was highly offensive, a spokeswoman from the commission said.

"This book contains imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice, where the 'savage natives' look like monkeys and talk like imbeciles," she said

"How and why do Borders think that it's OK to peddle such racist material? This is potentially highly offensive to a great number of people."

She added that the only place the book was acceptable was in a museum - with a sign accompanying it saying "old-fashioned, racist claptrap".

The commission was made aware that the chain stocked the book after a customer, David Enright, a solicitor, found it in the children's section of a London branch. "I was aghast to see page after page of representations of black African people as baboons or monkeys, bowing before a white teenager and speaking like retarded children," he wrote.

A spokesman for Borders confirmed the book would be moved to the adult section but it would not be withdrawn, adding that the company stood by its commitment to let customers make the choice. Waterstone's said it would not censor the book but is considering moving it from the children's section. The book's publisher, Egmont, released a colour edition in Britain two years ago, which included a foreword noting the colonial attitudes prevalent when it was written.

Source: The Guardian.co.uk / Thursday 12 July 2007