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Africa racist war cartoon. Indignant, a Milanese primary school teacher, published on her Facebook profile a page of the subsidiary that many second-grade children have in their hands these days back to school, the book (The Adventures of Leo, published by the publishing group Raffaello ) that will accompany you throughout the year. On page 4, under the greeting Welcome back to school, the author proposes a short text and reflection, asking the children to formulate a resolution for their new year. The examples are written in the comics: the girl with the blond hair and the headband: this year I would like to draw a lot of pictures with felt-tip pens, the cheerful boy with a red streak: I would always like to go to the playground. And the black man who says: This year I want to learn Italian well. A phrase that scandalizes the young teacher, Francesca Sample, 36, who photographs and publishes: Not the book we use in my class, but for adoption in many schools – she explains -. Words fail me to say how racist, vulgar, distant from the reality of the classroom, are the authors and editors of this thing that I cannot call a book, he writes. Remove it from the market. Followers then comment: To be reported, pure racism.
A bad movie from the 30s
the image has been circulating for a couple of days: even the non-profit association Educare alle differences has published the offending pages. A book that enters intercultural classes in which girls and boys born and raised in Italy have different colors, mixed and adoptive families, parents who come from other countries but have lived here for years or who were born and raised here. But also recently arrived children who bring their cultures of origin with them. Children we follow through representations like this to point out as foreigners, as more than a supposed italic normality, and to imitate with shameful language that seems to be taken from a bad 1930s movie.
Freedom to teach
It is not the first time that school textbooks have been accused, mainly because they convey rigid and anachronistic models of masculinity and femininity: a world populated by brave gentlemen, learned scientists and strict fathers but also by sweet and loving mothers, happy housewives, witches and princesses. Francesca Sample writes: Teachers, let’s regain the freedom of teaching. We make the alternative choice to the single textbook. Fortunately, our students are not two-dimensional or stupid as this page paints them. A model of sensible choice is the one that follows in her school: for the reading of books, which have such an influence on the growth and structuring of the identity of children, the proposals of the interclass team are integrated with the rich school library,.
The defense
As for the contested comic, there are also those who justify it: a child in my class, a foreigner, not knowing the language but eager to master it, expressed himself exactly with these words. Not racism. a child who struggles to communicate despite barriers. And again: when you seek controversy at any cost … to promote inclusion, you must first acknowledge diversity …
The editor’s apologies
Meanwhile, the editor, reversed by the controversy, corrects the shot by announcing that he has already started editing the page. The Raffaello Editorial Group – he said – has always been very attentive to issues such as inclusion, interculturality and listening to the needs of children and parents. These are the values that guide the work of our newsroom, our collaborators and the experts who work alongside us, always carried out with the utmost care, dedication and passion. We apologize for the highly criticized illustration, which hurt sensitivity and offended, it was certainly not our intention. We have already changed the page, which is immediately available to those who use the text this school year. Obviously, the book, which is being reprinted, will be modified.
September 25, 2020 (modified on September 25, 2020 | 15:27)
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