Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Minister of Education Theresa Schopper (Greens) has criticized the withdrawal of the Winnetou books by Ravensburger Verlag due to allegations of racism. “Children’s books from the past serve clichés. Struwwelpeter is pure black pedagogy. Should we therefore ban him?” She said in the “Heilbronner Voice” and the “Südkurier” (Friday). She personally would have liked it if Ravensburger had made a different decision and the books could have been read.
The publisher had withdrawn the two books “The Young Chief Winnetou” for the film of the same name, as well as a puzzle and a sticker book. In an Instagram post, the company justified this with user feedback that showed “that we hurt the feelings of others with the Winnetou titles”. Criticism was initially sparked by the film adaptation of the same name because the film served racist prejudices and used a colonial narrative style.
She had neither read the books from Ravensburger Verlag nor seen the film, Schopper said. “As a child I loved the old Winnetou films with Pierre Brice, at carnival I was often Nscho-tschi, Winnetou’s sister.” Of course, Winnetou uses clichés because the life of the indigenous population is no longer like that. “But if we apply this standard to all fairy tales and children’s books, where will it lead?”
