The Four Color Media Monitor

Book burnings were some of the most offensive things Germany's National Socialists could've committed in the past century. Now, in modern Canada, in the province of Ontario, a Catholic school carried out book burnings (it may have first begun nearly 2 years ago), supposedly because they slighted American Indians, and the list includes European comics. According to French-language Radio Canada, the examples include:

A great literary clean-up took place in the libraries of the Providence Catholic School Board, which brings together 30 French-language schools throughout southwestern Ontario. Nearly 5,000 children's books on Aboriginal people were destroyed in an effort to reconcile with the First Nations, Radio-Canada has learned. [...]

Tintin in America, a racist book?

The School Board criticizes the comic Tintin in America an "unacceptable language", the "incorrect information", "a negative portrayal of indigenous peoples" and "offending Aboriginal representation in the drawings".

In Hergé's comic book, published in 1932, one of the author's best-selling in the world, we notably find the appellation "Peau-Rouge". The Sun Temple has also been removed from the rays.

[...] Three Lucky Luke albums have been retired. One of the criticisms often made by the committee is the "power imbalance" with whites and "Aboriginals seen as the bad guys".

So this school is now taking up the slapdash viewpoint that once took place over a decade ago in Britain, that Tintin in America is offensive to Indians? Strange, I thought the angle was actually favorable to the US Indians, since it depicted the US military driving a tribe off their land in the early 20th century. This seems to be another example of virtue-signalers deciding even favorable positions are unacceptable. Here's a quote by an artist who's devastated by what this is leading to:

Dismayed authors denounce censorship

Quebec comic book author Marcel Levasseur is devastated when we learn that his character Laflèche has been withdrawn from school libraries. He feels "a lot of sadness, a lot of incomprehension".

In 2011, the book was a finalist for the Tamarac Prize, awarded by the Ontario Library Association. "In 10 years, I have gone from almost an award winner to a banned author."

The humorous comic book takes place during the War of the Conquest, at the time of New France, and makes fun of the relations between the Aboriginals and the French and English soldiers. The School Board accuses him of "unacceptable language" and a "faulty representation of Aboriginals in the drawings".

What are the chances such PC advocates will take a similar view of Marvel's shoddy projects someday? Something tells me that, while the comic strips victimized by this horror show so far are European/Canadian, even USA-based comics about Indians will eventually turn up on their blacklist.

"This is not a history book", defends Marcel Levasseur. "We use History as a backdrop and we have fun with it, a bit like Asterix. In humorous comics, we turn the corners."

Marcel Levasseur is so devastated by the news of the withdrawal of his comic that he calls into question the production of the 4th album, in preparation. "Realizing that it can be so fragile, that it can become an object of shame overnight… Do I want to keep fighting?"

The author says he has already faced criticism, even from those close to him, because one of his native characters is an alcoholic. Other soldier characters are "thick bullies", the author explains.

If the soldiers in question are villains, then again, this is otherwise an overreaction. I don't think he should be discouraged from completing a 4th story, if he's got one in preparation, but that's bound to be the tragic result of this censorship catastrophe. And even Asterix came under attack:

The sexualization of Indigenous women also disturbed the Providence Catholic School Board.

Suzi Kies deplores the sexualization of the Native who falls in love with Obelix in "Asterix and the Indians". The young woman is represented with a plunging neckline and a mini-skirt.

"Oh, Would you run in the woods in a mini skirt? But people think so", she regrets. "We developed what is called sexual savagery, an image of indigenous women as easy women."

This is also disgusting. At best, it completely ignores the surreal components of such tales. At worst, it's damning a fine fashion concept like the miniskirt, which may have first been developed in the UK, and even Supergirl wore it to fine effect in decades past. Does this charlatan believe Indian women shouldn't dress fashionably or become supermodels? That's one thing her insulting propaganda sounds like. By this twisted logic, even indigenous men shouldn't fall in love with an indigenous woman, but she clearly doesn't care about the damage it'll do to Indian men by extension. She probably holds similar views on Will Eisner's Sheena. It's crucial to note that somebody who's claiming to have First Nations ancestry was discovered by Radio Canada to be far from that:

The indigenous “knowledge keeper” also kept certain secrets. Suzy Kies, co-chair of the Indigenous Commission of the Liberal Party of Canada, does not have Indian status under the Act, does not appear in the records of Abenaki band councils, and has no Indigenous ancestors to date. 'to at least the year 1780.

[...] In an interview with Radio-Canada, Suzy Kies told us that she has a European parent and an Aboriginal parent.

According to the civil status registers, her father was indeed born in Luxembourg, but her mother is classified of "French racial origin".

"My mother's family is from several communities , she says. On my grandfather's side, it's the Maliseet, from St. Mary's, New Brunswick, there are also the Laporte who are Innu. And my grandmother was Abenaki from Odanak."

"She is not on our band list", indicates Jacques Thériault-Watso, elected to the Abenaki Council of Odanak, after checking with the registrar.

Even though she had only one Abenaki grandparent, Suzy Kies should have appeared on this list, he explains.

Suzy Kies does not appear on the list of the other Abenaki band, from Wôlinak either.

Now this is definitely telling. Somebody with no Indian ancestry wants to tell Indians how to conduct their business, and pretends she's got Indian ancestry herself as justification for her repellent viewpoints, which are just an already classic example of sex-negative feminism, which she doubtless believes should be shoved down the throats of women of French descent too. What next, will she say Obelix should not be depicted falling in love with the Indian girl in the story, because he's of Celtic/Gaulish/French origin? Which would only be lecturing for total racial segregation, if Kies the poseur did that. Will the sources she works for distance themselves from her following this atrocious scandal? Will she even apologize for the damage she's done?

The National Post, which also covered the news, tells:

Asked about the book burning, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said it’s not up to non-Indigenous people “to tell Indigenous people how they should feel or act to advance reconciliation.”

“On a personal level, I would never agree to the burning of books,” Trudeau said.

Well does this apply to Kies as well? Because her lecturing and indoctrination are reprehensible, to say nothing of embarrassing for the communities she claims to represent. Trudeau is such a phony. The following politician addressed this better:

Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois, said “we don’t burn books,” at a press conference.

“We expose ourselves to history, we explain it, we demonstrate how society has evolved or must evolve,” he said.

Asked about the report, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said, “Reconciliation is important for all Canadians and we have to have a system that does not discriminate.”

Later, O’Toole tweeted: “A Conservative government will be committed to reconciliation. But the road to reconciliation does not mean tearing down Canada. I strongly condemn the burning of books.”

As do I, and as somebody who's tried to study the history of European comics as much as USA-based, I take offense at how, no matter the tone or content of the strips in question, they're obliterating them to suit a PC agenda. Barron's says that following the outrage over this behavior, the school suspended any further acts like these. Yet they owe an apology to all the people whom they've hurt with these hugely exaggerated, irresponsible accusations, and it's unclear so far if they'll actually do it. They won't be able to apologize for the historical scandal by destroying history that can be examined to learn what past societies were like, and how to improve upon them. For now, what this tells is the tragic path Canada is following the USA upon to ruin.

Update: CBC reports Kies has resigned her position on the Indigenous Peoples' commission in the Liberal party, though it sounds more like she's just doing it so this news won't tarnish Trudeau. It remains to be seen if she'll apologize for insulting women of any background who like to dress fashionably, one of the other horrible mistakes she made.

Labels: censorship issues, comic strips, Europe and Asia, history, libraries, misogyny and racism, msm propaganda, politics, violence