'Racist' textbook draws ire of parents, educators

Jermaine Francis, Staff Reporter

A book included on the approved supplementary textbooks list for primary schools is being shredded for containing what many are referring to as racist undertones that can negatively influence young pupils.

The text, Creative English for Caribbean Primary Schools: Level 2 written by Clifford Narinesingh and published by the Trinidadian publisher, Royards Publishing Company, has come under scrutiny from some educators and parents.

A troubling section of the book, which has some up in arms, reads: "Nita has brown eyes and neatly trimmed eyelashes. Her hair is long and black and is always neatly combed. A round face with slender nose and brown complexion make her pretty and likeable".

Dr Sonjah Stanley Niaah, senior lecturer in cultural studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, said the sections of the book deemed racist were brought to her attention by a concerned parent who was perturbed that students were being asked to use this book in school.

"This is of concern to us because we don't see in this text, even in the use of adjectives, some kind of balance. If it is, that beauty, what is pretty and what is likeable, are being associated with features that are European, this is exactly what we are trying not to have happen in our country," she posited.

Book needs balance

She added that there was nothing wrong with describing characters with European attributes, but these must be balanced with descriptions of other ethnicities.

"In a post-colonial context, where people are bleaching their skin because of certain perceptions of what's beautiful, we need to seriously look at the kind of content in our books being used in the schools, especially at the primary level," Stanley Niaah argued.

One parent, who was shown the text, said she would never allow her children to be exposed to such material.

"I don't want my child to be indoctrinated or be exposed to anything telling my pickney that if he is not brown, he is not handsome or telling my daughter long hair or straight nose is likable," the parent stated.

Stanley Niaah said the book should be taken off the list unless it is revised.