Historian David Olusoga has said racist or offensive language should not be removed from classic books or TV shows and that young people should just ‘toughen up’.
The presenter acknowledged he’s from an older generation than the one used to trigger warnings.
He also said he understands that it can be helpful to know ahead of time if a book has certain stories or words that might be upsetting.
However, the British-Nigerian writer said he thought it was more useful to confront the language of the past than to censor it.
Olusoga recently took part in a documentary about the BBC‘s Black and White Minstrel Show, a program that aired until the late 1970s and featured white performers in blackface.
Last year, novelist Anthony Horowitz said he wouldn’t accept being told what to do following the rewritting of Roald Dahl‘s books to remove ‘offensive’ language.
Olusoga explained to grasp how that entertainment spread racism and stereotypes, he believes it’s necessary to confront the offensive language directly as he believes it’s the only way to truly understand its harmful impact.
He told the Hay Festival: ‘I think we need to be tougher. Our ancestors had those words shouted at them; we just have to read them in a book.
David Olusoga, pictured, said racist or offensive language should not be removed from classic books or TV shows and that young people should just ‘toughen up’
The word ‘fat’ has been wiped from every one of Dahl’s books, with Augustus Gloop only described as ‘enormous’
He added that he is tolerant of people who prefer removing words instead of providing warnings, the Telegraph reports.
Some novels, like the James Bond series, have been edited to remove racist references.
Ian Fleming’s books were reissued in 2023 with certain language changed following a review by sensitivity readers.
Similar edits have also been made to some Agatha Christie mysteries.
Bestselling British author Mr Horowitz, who was commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate to write three James Bond continuation novels—With a Mind to Kill, Trigger Mortis, and Forever and a Day—dismissed the idea of modernising the content.
When asked how he adapted the stories for today’s readers, he firmly replied: ‘The first thing I did not do was update it for a modern audience.’
He continued: ‘I set it in the 1950s as I believe Bond only exists in his world. I did not give in to anything. He is still a womaniser, a smoker, and a killer.
‘There was nothing to change, not even the language, he used the word ‘bottom’ a lot, so I made sure I used it in every book.
Olusoga recently took part in a documentary about the BBC ‘s Black and White Minstrel Show, a program that aired until the late 1970s and featured white performers in blackface
Olusoga told the Hay Festival: ‘I think we need to be tougher. Our ancestors had those words shouted at them; we just have to read them in a book’
‘I did not change him to match people’s sensibilities.’
In 2023, Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books were revised by sensitivity experts to remove language deemed offensive, such as references to characters being ‘fat’ and the use of gendered terms for the Oompa Loompas.
Publisher Puffin hired sensitivity readers to review and change parts of Dahl’s original text, aiming to ensure the stories could continue to be enjoyed by today’s readers.
As a result, substantial changes were made across his works.
According to The Telegraph, many of the edits focused on descriptions of characters’ appearances, with the word ‘fat’ completely removed from every book.
Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can now only be described as ‘enormous’.
Hundreds of changes were made to the original text, extinguishing Dahl’s colourful and memorable descriptions, some over fifty years old, to make his characters less grotesque.
Mrs Twit’s ‘fearful ugliness’ has been chopped to ‘ugliness’, and Mrs Hoppy in Esio Trot is not an ‘attractive middle-aged lady’ but a ‘kind middle-aged lady’.
Gender is also eliminated with books no longer referring to ‘female’ characters.
Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a ‘most formidable female’, is now a ‘most formidable woman’, while her ‘great horsey face’ is now called ‘her face’.
Oompa-Loompas who were once ‘small men’ are now ‘small people’ and Fantastic Mr Fox’s three sons have become daughters.
Passages not written by the late author, who died in 1990, have also been added by the publisher to complete their new editions.
In The Witches, a paragraph describing them as bald under their wigs is followed shortly by a new line: ‘There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.’
