#fightxenophobia

[uwmspeccoll]

A Henty a Week:  aka what Henty can teach us about the Covid-19 Pandemic

George Alfred Henty’s historical adventure novel, With the Allies to Pekin: a Tale of the Relief of the Legations, was a random choice this week based on the availability of a few surplus titles I scanned several weeks ago, before we knew that our department and library would be closed for the foreseeable future. It was published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1906, in accordance with the uniform cover standards of their Henty series during this time period. The illustrations were done by Walter Paget, a popular illustrator of the Scribner’s Henty titles. 

It is the story of a young English man, Rex, who grew up in China and reared primarily by Ah Lo, a young Chinese man hired as a sort of nanny. He returns to England for university training to take over the family merchant business in China and then returns on the eve of the Boxer Rebellion. He discovers his aunt, uncle, and cousins have been kidnapped by the Boxers and he and Ah Lo set out to rescue them, of course finding themselves drawn into the amidst the Battle of Peking.

Henty can’t seem to make up his mind about the Chinese; while Rex often  corrects misconceptions other English characters have about the Chinese. As a conversation early in the book goes:  

Fellow English Student: “They call us the foreign devils, donʼt they?”

Rex: “No, that is a mistake; the real meaning of the words is ʻocean devils,ʼ which answers to our word ʻpirates.ʼ Europeans were called so because the Chinese coasts were ravaged, sacked, and burnt by adventurers who first sailed into the Chinese seas, and the name has been applied to the whites ever since.” 

Henty nevertheless repeats numerous racist cliches (sometimes couched as positive traits) and promotes many other negative stereotypes. Take Ah Lo for example, who despite his seniority and mentor role is referred to possessively,  “Is your Chinaman going back with you?” (pg 14) and calls Rex “Master.” There are numerous scenes, too, of ethnic cross-dressing (in both directions) which always rely on ridiculous tropes about hairstyles, skin color, eye shape...but only as regards the Chinese and never the English.

HENTY AND COVID-19

This seems an appropriate Henty tale to look at this week, given the circumstances of the global spread of Covid-19. If the pandemic weren’t already emotionally and financially taxing enough, racist rhetoric against the Chinese is becoming alarmingly common....and it needs to end. People are consuming higher quantities of mass media as a result of social distancing; vulnerability to propaganda rises under times of stress and duress. It is critical that we remain interrogative of the messages being broadcast through news media. Guard against cultural bias, fear, panic, and the excessive present-mindedness that accompanies day-to-day survival but obscures a future of justice. Reject and stand up to racism and xenophobia lest you become the Henty-of-the-future that a graduate student intern rails against each week!

-- Katie, Special Collections Graduate Intern

#George Alfred Henty #G.A. Henty #A Henty a Week #With the Allies to Pekin #Historical Curriculum Collection #illustrated books #young adult fiction #historical fiction #Walter Paget #FightRacism #Covid19 #xenophobia #FightXenophobia #colonialist fiction #Katie

[aurelieabolivier]

Ma participation à la campagne contre la xénophobie en solidarité aux communautés asiatiques, stigmatisées en ces temps d’épidémie du Covid19. Mouvement initié et mené par @ravy.illustration, illustratrice sino-cambodgienne. Toutes les illustrations sur @provocateur.pencils. . . . #LesAsiatiquesNeSontPasLeVirus #AsiansAreNotTheVirus #WashTheHate #RacismIsAVirus #IamNotCOVID19 #Wearenotthevirus #Iamnotthevirus #FearIsAVirus #COVID19 #HateIsAVirus #antiracist #campaign #nottoxenophobia #againstxenophobia #fightxenophobia #portrait #representation #representationmatters #illustration #movement #solidarity #together #Art #SocialChange #Artivism #illustrator #artistsforchange #artists #movement N’hésitez pas à participer ! https://www.instagram.com/p/B_PpAVhB17X/?igshid=kdymgj7tjzfa

#lesasiatiquesnesontpaslevirus #asiansarenotthevirus #washthehate #racismisavirus #iamnotcovid19 #wearenotthevirus #iamnotthevirus #fearisavirus #covid19 #hateisavirus #antiracist #campaign #nottoxenophobia #againstxenophobia #fightxenophobia #portrait #representation #representationmatters #illustration #movement #solidarity #together #art #socialchange #artivism #illustrator #artistsforchange #artists

[beatsfuzionuk]

Till further notice! #enoughisenough #fightxenophobia https://www.instagram.com/p/B18dy79JQu5/?igshid=14agmivpgnnax

#enoughisenough #fightxenophobia

[lmmigrantrights-blog]

First, let us understand the main causes of Xenophobia in America.

#FightXenophobia

[chloebensahel]

My first 4th of July celebration! Feeling a bit nostalgic - 18 years ago we moved here from France and felt so welcome. I now sound like an American, have all the same cultural references, and have lived here for the majority of my life. I am French, and American. I can't help but feel for all those who are in the same position but have felt unwelcomed in this country. There is no 'preferable' type of immigrant, I am still an immigrant, and everyone here is an immigrant. Don't let xenophobia define this century, we can do better than this. #america #freedom #fightxenophobia #chooselove #iamanimmigrant #immigrant #foreigner #French #American

#iamanimmigrant #freedom #foreigner #fightxenophobia #french #immigrant #american #america #chooselove

[lmmigrantrights-blog]

Here’s the 6 basic steps you can follow to #FightXenophobia