TIL that his museum says that "Roald Dahl’s racism is undeniable and indelible" - eviltoast

This is the first I’ve heard of it, but here’s one of his infamous quotes:

"There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews.

I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.”

His other quotes tend to be condemnation about specifically Israeli zionism and barbaric murder, but i don’t have context as to whether he’s referring to palestine or not. Some people might have more sympathy for these statements these days, but a lot of his other quotes have to do with Jews controlling money and media, less defensible prejudice.

  • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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    4 months ago

    There’s quite a few less obvious examples in how he explains black people like animals. He also does the same with Asians. Dude was a man of the times lol

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      4 months ago

      Mm, I believe it, I am was so into the eldritch descriptions I must have glossed over the racist shit, lovecraft country is what brought it to my attention originally.

      And I haven’t read his does rice that show aired.

      I didn’t realize it was based off a book, I want to read that, now

      • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        Lovecraft country was so good. Shame about majors.

        I will argue though what I love about Lovecraft country is probably not what most people did.

    • Jarix@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Leaving aside his poetry and his collaborative works, here are some other examples of racism in Lovecraft stories.

      “The Rats in the Walls” features a cat named “N----- Man”

      “The Horror at Red Hook” refers to a villain as “an Arab with a hatefully negroid mouth”

      The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: “the wife [had] a very repulsive cast of countenance, probably due to a mixture of negro blood.”

      Herbert West: Reanimator contains a particularly problematic bit of description:

      The negro had been knocked out, and a moment’s examination shewed us that he would permanently remain so. He was a loathsome, gorilla-like thing, with abnormally long arms which I could not help calling fore legs, and a face that conjured up thoughts of unspeakable Congo secrets and tom-tom poundings under an eerie moon. The body must have looked even worse in life—but the world holds many ugly things.

      Edit: this is entirely copy pasta