Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.
William Arthur Ward
Written in 2007 revised in 2016
Cathern Harrison
Only a few pages into a book I was stunned
by a word, the name of something… that prompted me to look it up.
Finding the meaning of a word or a recipe new
to me, such as Roly Poly Pudding, Burnt Leather Cake, or a grog
shop is not new for me, I’m curious and have many what I call, adult
questions to find answers for - an easy
task now with a 24/7 library available to me, a computer and the internet.
However, this new WORD was perplexing, not
only because I have never heard it but more so because it was a racial slur, I
felt.
And to be used in a book written about the
experiences of an elementary teacher was puzzling … Especially as her writing
seems ‘clean” and plain. Thus this word jumped out and hit me square in my
curiosity spot. I had to re-read it to
make sure I had seen it correctly.
The book was “Children of My Heart”. It is the
English translation of a book by Gabrielle Roy, “Ces Enfants de ma Vie”, written in 1977. It was translated into English by Alan Brown
in 1979…
“Children
of My Heart was a contender in Canada Reads 2007, when it was championed by
Denise Bombardier. It also won the Governor General's Literary Award for
fiction in 1957”
That
is likely why I was reading it and because I had seen the series on television or
is it the other way around? It doesn’t matter,
this is about the journey my curiosity took me on and continues as I revise
this.
Gabrielle Roy has written several French
books that have been translated into English. Some of her other books are, The
Tin Flute, Enchanted Summer, and Windflower. The dust cover of "Children of my
Heart”, said this is the latest of her books
“Children
of My Heart” is filled with Gabrielle’s memories of the mid 30’s when she
taught young children out on the Canadian Prairies.
After I found out what the word was it sent me
looking for other racial depicted items that have disappeared since I grew up
such as Little Black Sambo and Golliwogs. 
The photo of the Golliwags was taken in England
in 2014 when we were on a coach tour. I
was surprised to see the shop window full of the once popular dolls as they had
gone out of favor years ago because a Golliwog was considered to not be “politically
correct” . However, they were making a come back .
And how about the counting rhyming I grew
up with - following is the common modern version
Eeny,
meeny, miny, moe,
Catch
a tiger by the toe.
If
he hollers, let him go,
Eeny,
meeny, miny, moe.
“It
was also used by Rudyard Kipling in his "A Counting-Out Song", from
Land and Sea Tales for Scouts and Guides, published in 1935. This may have
helped popularize this version in the United Kingdom where it seems to have
replaced all earlier versions until the late twentieth century.”
And are you a bird feeder? Do you feed
Nyjer seed to finches? Until a few years ago, it was spelt differently and
some folks pronounced it that way as well.
Now that I had more information I realized where Gabrielle was coming from when
she used the word in question. It is still around, down south if not elsewhere
but people that use it to this day, are considered racist.
Most of us know the slang word Gabrielle used as Brazil Nuts…
However, in the 1930’s that was the way it was. A creating writing instructor once told me using ‘mentally challenged’ to describe a boy was not authentic for the time frame my story was in- I knew that but could not write what it would have been back then so scraped the story which had only begun - it stays on in my mind though.
March 2007
This morning I had my dog, Teddy, out
for a walk, the first in a very long time. We enjoyed the spring like weather
stroll around our neighborhood. He
marked his territory while I looked at houses for changes or ideas to try. One
house that has a pathway running alongside it to the next street has a nice 6
foot wooden fence between the house and the path’s ugly Frost fence. The wood fence stood out like a sore thumb because
there was a dark stain, paint I assume across several of the boards. It is very evident that something was thrown
at the fence. The reason I mention this is because the other day I was thinking
about how Graffiti Junkies seem to stay away from private property. So why was this place hit? Is it because a
black family lives there? I walked on
disgusted with how some human beings treat others and the world around me didn’t seem so bright and
fresh all of a sudden
Maybe
racism isn’t as dead as we would like to think…
Nov 2016
I was right in that, as the incidents of racism
go on and on not only against black people but many other races, religions and
anything that one feels they are superior to and many of the offenders call
themselves Christians really?
No, racism has not settled down and now
after the months of nonsense heard during the presidential campaign the fuel
that feeds it, drives it on like a forest fire out of control. AND the now
president -elect that fanned the flames throughout the campaign during an
interview after he won, (Lord help us), looked at the camera and said, “Stop
it!” And expects all the crap he stirred
up to settle down.
What
a mean-spirited world we live in at times.
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