Thread by @JABell27

Spent a part of the day at @librarycongress reading letters from the secretary of the DC branch of the NAACP in the 1910s, a graduate of @fisk1866, to various (white) editors/publishers. In dignified, beautiful prose, he explained why certain words were racial slurs— 1/

and why publishers who'd printed books & articles w/those words in them should elevate their minds & their language. He was particularly troubled by the potential effect of using one of those words in a counting rhyme ("Ten Little [Deleted]s") in a children's book would have 2/

on Black children who might be given a copy. He mentioned that it had recently become official policy of the @boyscouts to prohibit boys from using racial slurs to describe African Americans, Jews, Italians, and Poles. 3/

There were responses from several of the editors & publishers. Most said they hadn't "meant any insult" in using them. Some pointed out that African Americans used the *n* word among themselves, & argued that made it okay for white writers to use it. 4/

One, taken to task for depicting the speech of Black southerners in "dialect" & making them sound ignorant, protested that he was just trying for an accurate portrayal that was intended to amuse. Everything about the "good intentions" of the white publishers. 5/

Lots of explanations, no apology for harm done. Except that the publisher of the children's book thanked the secretary for alerting him to the issue, & informed him that they'd changed the offending word in the rhyme (to something likely offensive to a different group). 6/

And it made me think about how many of those same damn arguments, explanations, & rationalizations I see just about every day in some of my social media feeds (veterans' groups), more than a century later. How long Black activists have been patiently trying to educate 7/

some white people on...basic decency & courtesy. Why is that so hard? Why is it still so hard for us to just *listen* and do better? The collection included some files of studio portraits—family, friends. All long dead. I had trouble looking them in the eye nonetheless. 8/

Anyway. That particular collection is a treasure. Those voices, so carefully preserved, are still speaking truth and wisdom that America needs to hear. Grateful to be allowed to read those letters, see those photos. 9/end

(Not end. I fall a little bit in love with many of the people I'm researching. What mattered to them starts to matter to me. When they hurt, I hurt. Reading fiction is known to improve the reader's empathy; I think that reading history must have the same effect.)