I wanted to put The Memory Hole on my list of sites worth visitng, as I think it's a wonderful resource. But when I checked it out today, it made me think twice about it. If you visit the site and look on the right to it's "other stories" section, you'll see one of the news items listed is "Happy Birthday Mickey the Racist", and the link took you to an auction page for a rare 1932 Mickey Mouse Annual that features highly racist depictions of black people, not to mention the word "nigger" is used prominently.

Now, here's the thing: as most of you know, I am not a Disney fan. I find their brand of entertainment sophmoric, and their values outdated. Add in the fact that their a multi-billion dollar conglomerate and I think you get a fair understanding of why I would be perfectly happy if Disney went bankrupt tomorrow and no one ever saw Mickey Mouse again.

That said, I think The Memory Hole is being a tad unfair in its presentation of this particular item. Is it racist? Obviously. Was Walt Disney racist? Most certainly. But to say "Mickey the Racist"? We're talking about a fictional mouse here. It's one thing to take Disney to task for allowing such a racist book to be published. But to put the blame on Mickey Mouse? Even if the title on the Memory Hole was done in jest, it's distorting the picture just a tad, don't you think?

Racist cartoons are serious issue. Stuff like Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips or Black Coal and de Sebben Dwarfs, the old Heckyl and Jeckyl cartoons, and even this Mickey Mouse annual, show that animated cartoons are not immune to racist attitudes. Song of the South is racist; those characters, whose existence comes solely from that movie, are racist. But when you address something like Mickey Mouse, you're dealing with an icon, one whose meaning has developed over decades from repeated sources, not just one single example. And I have yet to see the evidence that shows where Mickey Mouse is nothing but a proigator of racist attitudes. (A tool of an evil, narrow-minded, global-dominating, mind-numbing corporation, yes; but that's a whole different argument.)

I think The Memory Hole is a fine resources, but it obviously has its own agenda and I think it's a site that can be valuable, but has to be taken with a grain of salt.