"Absurd censorship:" Changes to Roald Dahl's books spark criticism

[Effete Snob]

41. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is hardly Little Black Sambo"

Correct. Sambo is actually a boy in India.

In the Chocolate Factory, in contrast, there are slave laborers who were imported from Africa to work for Willy Wonka.

These are the Oompa Loompas from the first edition of the book:



Where were you to decry the removal of that image in subsequent editions? It happened long before now, but for whatever reason, you did not care.

For the sake of integrity, why aren't you demanding the original Oompa Loompas restored to the book?

They came from "the very deepest and darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before."

But in the 1973 edition, they looked like this:



Where was the call for artistic integrity?

Well, that was when Dahl could speak for himself:

"I created a group of little fantasy creatures…. I saw them as charming creatures, whereas the white kids in the books were… most unpleasant. It didn’t occur to me that my depiction of the Oompa-Loompas was racist, but it did occur to the NAACP and others…. After listening to the criticisms, I found myself sympathizing with them, which is why I revised the book."

So, which, in your mind, is the "original"? The first edition Ooompa Loompas, or the ones that Dahl himself revised due to updated times, morals and understanding?

I'm sorry, but if you aren't arguing for the ORIGINAL book with the enslaved Africans, then this is just so much nonsense.

Dahl himself updated the book to address issues like this, and the current owners of the work are simply doing the same, and the relevant history suggests that Dahl himself would approve.

Reference: https://groovyhistory.com/oompa-loompas-the-original-ones/7