In the 1960s, Warner Brothers deemed several cartoons too offensive to release. Labeled the “Censored 11″, they have not been broadcast since their release. Many were traded underground on bootleg tapes. Thankfully, now we have Youtube.

You can now find such classics as “Tokio Jokio”, “Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs” and “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” online. Youtube recently attempted to remove all the offending cartoons. However, just like stereotypes, they keep coming back.

8asians.com recently asked what to do with these cartoons:

Many, including the NAACP, are calling for the videos to be returned to the vault while YouTube/Google are less inclined to pull the videos unless Warner Bros comes forward to claim copyright infringement.

A representative for Warner wrote in an e-mail message that “Warner Brothers has rights to the titles” in question and that “we vigorously protect all our copyrights. We do not make distinctions based on content.”

Not one to pass up racist cartoons, I spent a good part of the afternoon looking up these titles. By ‘good part’, I meant halftime of the Pistons-Sixers game. After watching them, my feeling was of amusement, optimism, disgust.

Take “Tokio Jokio”. Made during World War II, it obviously attempts to characterize the Japanese as primitive people. They also rely on the classic stereotypes of the Japanese, and Asians in general. Buckteeth, slanted eyes, Asian accents. Amazingly, forty years later, these are still the main ways people stereotype Asians. Is that all they have?

What spurred my optimism was that producers recognized their racist nature in the 1960s. Even then, they realized their offensiveness. Shown today, these cartoons would create reactions a thousand times worse. So the times, they are a-changin’.

What to do with these cartoons? Show them. Don’t hide them. Who cares that they make fun of Asians and blacks. If you hide them, how can you learn from them? Anyway, television puts on cartoons that make fun of whites every day. They call it “The Jerry Springer Show”.

Racist Propoganda Cartoons: What to do with our racist past? [8asians.com]

“Tokio Jokio” [Youtube]

“Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” [Youtube]

“Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs” [Daily Motion]