Sambo as Orientalized – Little Black Sambo Exhibit

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Cover of "The Boy and the Tigers" — Cover of *The Boy and the Tigers* (2004). Illustrated by Valeria Petrone.

Although the public outcry against Little Black Sambo‘s harmful representations of Black people ran counter to its popularity as a beloved children’s story, the 1930s saw the beginning of a trend to ‘Orientalize’ or ‘authenticize’ Sambo and his family. Although the majority of versions have–and still–portray Sambo as Black (with the bulk illustrating the characters as African American in the later adaptations, particularly with the multicultural turn), the uptick in versions that definitively ‘Indianize’ the once-ethnically ambiguous “little black boy” mirrors the increasing backlash publishers were facing by the public. Yet, stepping back, we see the trading of racist depictions of Blacks–both African and African American–in these illustrations with just as problematically racist depictions of Indians.

Often Jumbo (and sometimes Sambo) are wearing turbans, Mumbo often in a sari–sometimes with a bindi, sometimes without one. While this may seem to be ‘realistic’, in some of these versions Jumbo and Mumbo’s clothing styles suggest they each belong to different faiths common in India, and while there is no strict law against interfaith marriages, it is not something regularly encouraged. Rather, these illustrators seem to be pulling the most iconic ‘Indian’ clothing that they were familiar with than any actual authentic and realistic style that would place Sambo and his family as Indians in an area where tigers are found.

Another interesting aspect of this ‘Orientalist turn’ is in the efforts of later versions to ‘further authenticize’ Sambo and his family by renaming the characters. Yet, some of these versions also miss the mark in their aim. For example, The Story of Little Babaji claims that they have changed the characters names to ‘authentic’ Indian ones; yet, they have just added the suffix to Mama and Papa to rename his parents as Mamaji and Papaji, respectively. Further, the renaming of Sambo to Babaji is not ‘authentic’ either–in Hindi, Baba means “saint”–which adds an unintended religious aspect to the text.

View texts that depict Sambo as Orientalized:

Credits

Brandon Murakami