[LINK] "Tintin comic temporarily pulled from Winnipeg Chapters over racism complaint"

[rfmcdonald]

This CBC report about complaints lodged against a Tintin graphic novel for its allegedly racist stereotypes of First Nations people surprises me only in that it came so recently to light.

A First Nations educator asked a Winnipeg Chapters to pull the comic Tintin in America from its shelves on Saturday, citing "the impact of racist images and perpetuating harmful narratives." At first, Chapters pulled the book, but it is now back on the shelves after the chain determined it does not violate its policy.

The cover image depicts stereotypical images of indigenous people in buckskin, and a chief brandishing an axe over his head while Tintin is tied to a post in the background.

Tintin comics have sold hundreds of millions of copies since they were first serialized in 1929 by their Belgian creator, Hergé, and many of them contain cultural stereotypes of the past.​

"The manager told us that the company doesn't feel like there is anything wrong with the imagery or the content of the book," Tasha Spillett posted Sunday morning on her Facebook page after attempting to have the book removed from the Winnipeg store.

[. . .]

In an email received by the CBC on Monday, Chapters vice-president of public affairs Janet Eger said the chain has a clear policy regarding which books it will or won't carry.

In order for Chapters to not carry a book, it must meet one of three criteria: child pornography; material with instructions on how to build weapons of mass destruction; and "anything written with the sole intent of inciting society toward the annihilation of one group."