Tintin is not a racist

A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo has filed a court case in Belgium to have the Tintin book Tintin in the Congo banned on the grounds that it is racist. The Belgian daily Le Soir argues that the comic must be changed: "Tintin in the Congo is the victim of its own popularity, and has become the favourite target of everyone who wants to attack the intolerable image of white supremacists and the disdain of white civilisation for African culture. Nevertheless, drawing a racist or xenophobic book was the furthest thing from [the book's author] Hergé's mind. With this in mind the Hergé drawing studios should now take action without waiting for the decision of the court. ... It's high time the new editions of Tintin in the Congo were embellished with the call for more vigilance regarding the racist prejudice prevalent at the time the book was first written. In the absence of such a dignified gesture Tintin may one day be banned from bookshops altogether."

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