Martinez-Roldan, C. M. (2013). The representation of Latinos and the use of Spanish: A critical content analysis of Skippyjon Jones. Journal of Children’s Literature, 39(1), 5-14.
Every time I get hopeful that we are making headway on combating racism, I read something that brings me thudding back to earth, and back to the realization that we still have a long way to go. One might think that books for children could be powerful in the fight against racism. The power of a much-loved book discovered early in life and shared with those who are most important to us cannot be denied. Unfortunately, that power can be used in ways that build barriers, as well as in ways that build bridges.
This has always been the case with children’s books. In my childhood we had books like Little Black Sambo and The Five Chinese Brothers. Many children adored those books, but that didn’t make up for their use of damaging racial stereotypes that denigrated people of color. In those days, no one in white middle-class homes thought to question what was being depicted in those books. They were simply “cute” and “fun” books often read at bedtime. The possibility that they perpetuated inaccurate and negative images did not even cross the minds of our parents or our teachers. Certain views of certain groups were a part of the culture in the U.S., and were infused throughout popular media, and seen as acceptable. Today we look at those books as educators and wonder how they ever got published, and we say to ourselves that times have certainly changed—or have they?
The author of this article took a close look at the Skippyjon Jones series, a current set of books that is quite popular today. The protagonist is a very cute cat who wants to be a Chihuahua, and who has a series of adventures with a wild group of Chihuahuas, all of whom look and talk like the dog that used to promote Taco Bell restaurants. The books have been touted in some circles as bilingual and multicultural, but Martinez-Roldan’s analysis shows that the way the books treat the Spanish language and those who speak it can actually work to promote and perpetuate racism and ethnocentrism rather than to promote multicultural understanding.
This analysis found discrimination in several forms in the Skippyjon Jones books. First, the Chihuahua protagonists fit the common stereotype of Mexicans as loud, crazy, lawless characters who live in crowded substandard housing and do nothing but party and carouse. These characters talk in what Martinez-Roldan calls “Mock Spanish”, which is actually English with stereotyped elements of Spanish grafted on, just so a lot of rhyming can be produced. For example, --ito is often added to English words in these books, resulting in constructions like “The perritos did not give a hootito” and “Muchos poochos” (p. 11). It gets worse, though. We also read examples of stereotyped “broken English”, like “ees” for “is” and “leetle” to describe something small. If books like this can be published in the United States in the 21st century, then we really haven’t come all that far since Little Black Sambo and The Five Chinese Brothers.
There are those who will accuse Martinez-Roldan, and maybe even me, of overreacting. Some might even say that critiques like this one seem to build a case for censorship of some kinds of books. The author here makes a point of saying she is not for censorship, and though I wish we did not live in a society where stereotypes like the ones shown in the Skippyjon Jones books are viewed as all right, or even beneficial, for children, I don’t favor censorship either. Rather, we need to look closely at books like this with children, and help them see what the books are telling them, both literally and inferentially. If we can build those critical skills in our young readers, we can move closer to the kind of world that will finally reject racism. I hope one of today’s children looks back on the Skippyjon Jones books and wonders how such books were published, praised, or accepted.
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