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imported post -
10-06-07, 11:07 PM
I absolutely agree. I think Disney has certainly short-changed Blacks. All the other disney princesses of non-white descent have been placed in their own native countries. Despite the vast amount of Asian-Americans, Mulan's story took place in ancient China. This also goes the same for Jasmine and Pochohantas. Disney has even depicted TheAztec culture of South Americain the Emperor's New Groove. However Blacks as a whole have been severely overlooked.
Every day Black children are bombarded with European accomplishments, not to mention the accomplishments of other races as a whole. Allworldhistory is taught to them, except ofcourse, their own.I often wondered growing up, "Were my people anything but just slaves?" And whenI grew older and began looking into my own culture, I realized there is very much for me to be proud of as an African American woman because I came from a strong, beautiful country. And the fact that Disney can honestly say there are no African-American fairytales or black fairytales is not only untrue, but absurd. Africa is a story-rich nation with fairytales centuries old. They should be overwhelmedwith stories, not struggling to find one to tell.Or perhaps they just don't have any storiesDisney is willing to tell. Is it really sodifficult to create a story aboutabeautifulAfrican princess? I mean it is so very importantthatchildren of all races, especially black children, seethe African continentin a newlight.I think such a story would be beneficial to all Black people because it isour country of orgin. Disney has been offered a storyline for an African princess from South Africa, who is rich and wise.HoweverDisneywasnot interested in this idea.And the fact they would turn down such a concept for this mediocore story isseverly disappointing.
I am a 22 year old black woman in collegeand last year for the first time I went to Disney. I thought it was amazing and I have never had so much fun. But when it came to time to visit the Around The World section of Disney world, I began to realize something. They had Italy, France, Spain, Morraco, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Mexico, and almost every culture you can think of. But Africa was missing and it stuck out to me like a sore thumb. And it is not because Africa isn't a rich nation of the ancient world (there are aritifacts and ruins to support that), it is just not represented that way in mainstream America. And it's an complete travesty and does the black community a large disservice. As a whole I think Disney has alot to remedy and when they make this film, I hopethey make it correctly. Maybe this film will actually overshadow Disney's short-comings and Princess Tiana (they renamed her) will be the kind of princess little black girls can relate to.
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