For a lot of critics, this is no laughing matter. There are new reports that say Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey is withdrawing his book, The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Caveman From the Future because of “passive racism.” Here’s what you need to know.
The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, first published in 2010, follows two cavemen who travel to the year 2222 and meet Master Wong, a martial arts instructor.
The book follows a pair of friends who travel from 500,001 B.C. to 2222, where they meet a martial arts instructor who teaches them kung fu and they learn principles found in Chinese philosophy.
Captain Underpants Book Pulled For Passive Racism
The plot of the book involves George and Harold, the lead characters from Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series, complaining that scientists don’t know everything, so they make a comic book about science facts.
Pilkey has apologized for the work saying it “contains harmful racial stereotypes” and is “wrong and harmful to my Asian readers.”
The announcement was made soon after Billy Kim, a Korean-American, started a petition demanding an apology from Scholastic, citing stereotypes and Pilkey’s depiction of Wong in his illustrations.
A statement from Scholastic reads: “We are deeply sorry for this serious mistake. Scholastic has removed the book from our websites, stopped fulfillment of any orders (domestically or abroad), contacted our retail partners to explain why this book is no longer available, and sought a return of all inventory. We will take steps to inform schools and libraries who may still have this title in circulation of our decision to withdraw it from publication.”
“Throughout our 100-year history, we have learned that trust must be won every day by total vigilance,” Scholastic’s statement continues. “It is our duty and privilege to publish books with powerful and positive representations of our diverse society, and we will continue to strengthen our review processes as we seek to support all young readers.”
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