An Analysis of the Blatant Racism in Beatrix Potter's Nursery Rhymes
So Matt and I were checking the exact words to the "This Little Piggy" rhyme when I discovered a hugely racist nursery rhyme in Beatrix Potter's "Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes" collection. It was a hallowing experience.
Now who is this knocking/ at Cottontail's door?/Tap tappit! Tap tappit!/ She's heard it before?
And when she peeps out/ there is nobody there,/But a present of carrots/ put down on the stair.
Hark! I hear it again!/ Tap, tap, tappit!/ Tap tappit!/ Why -- I believe it's/ a little black rabbit!
Firstly, although I can not shown Potter's illustrations, the Cottontail rabbit (the sister of Peter, for those unversed in Potterdom) is portrayed as a golden haired rabbit, while the unnamed gift-giving rabbit is determinedly black. This poem creates several questions. Firstly, why is the gift-giving rabbit unnamed? Even if Cottontail does not know the identity of her admirer, why does that rabbit feel it necessary to remain anonymous? Perhaps he fears instant rejection, for early 1900's society would certainly have frowned upon an interracial relationship. Secondly, in a setting in which the animal characters live personified lives containing every human convenience and product (at least those of the early twentieth century), why does Potter have the gift-giving rabbit present produce to woo Cottontail? Is Potter making a generalization about the socioeconomic status of African-Britons in the early twentieth century? If so, why did she feel that a nursery rhyme was an appropriate place to voice these ideas?
There are many voids to be filled.