Perhaps due in part to Black Folktales' controversial depictions of white Americans, it will never be Julius Lester's best known work. To Be a Slave (1968), “an historical narrative based on quotes from slave testimonies” (Something About the Author, Vol. 157), is the likely winner of that title, as it garnered coveted attention by the Newberry Honor Award committee. Following closely in popularity and recognition would be The Tales of Uncle Remus (1987) tetralogy (4-part series) which also wove African American folklore into Aesop-like stories and fables. Black Folktales, both the subject and object of this study, was released in 1969 and includes twelve short stories accompanied by black and white sketches created by Tom Feelings. Both the stories and illustrations reflect the lived experiences, characterizations and imaginings of Southern black Americans and the West Africans who can be considered their ancestral counterparts across the Atlantic.
While Lester explores the ties that bind and connect the two groups, the tone of some of the tales is strictly and markedly linked to sentiments associated with the 1960s' Civil Rights Movement in American history; it is at times contentious, conflicted and fraught, as were the relationships between blacks and whites during this period. Zena Sutherland of the Center for Children's Books wrote that "There is little question that [Julius Lester] has the cadence and humor of a skilled storyteller; [but] there is little question that [Black Folktales] is a vehicle for hostility. There is no story that concerns white people in which they are not pictured as venal or stupid or both" (Children's Literature Review, Vol. 2). The text takes advantage of opportunities to attack and criticize the power structures of the time that are depicted via Anglo Americans’ fictional representations; equally, Black Folktales misses no opportunity to demoralize and insult “Uncle Toms,” black figures whose loyalties prioritize what are considered white people’s interests and agendas.
The stories are split into four sections, Origins, Love, Heroes and People. The first of these include references to creation and attempt to explain the ‘Why?’ of the existence and order of things. “How God Made the Butterflies” is the header in the line-up and served to inspire another of Lester’s works, a 1999 children’s book What a Truly Cool World. Some curious features within Black Folktales challenge the idea that this particular compilation would make a popular, American children’s book. For example, a heroine dies in “The Girl With the Large Eyes”; laziness and trickery are praised in “High John the Conqueror”; voodoo, an often stigmatized form of magic, is used to win one’s wishes in “The Old Man Who Wouldn’t Take Advice”; and Jack not only dismembers himself in order to feed a bird in “Jack and the Devil’s Daughter,” he also visits the devil’s home. Thus, some of the scenes negotiate spaces, traditions and acts that Americans often consider taboo. The morals and lessons, however, reflect a resilient, resourceful and persevering nature that accurately represent the spirit of the black American people; a realistic mantra for them, as the last words of Black Folktales suggest, is “Just keep on stepping.”
Black Folktales feels relic-like; it is a cultural product of another era. Published following the assassinations of Civil Rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. and Malcolm X and considering the violence of the era in general, the folktales encompass anxiety, angst and pent up frustrations that matched the nature of the period. The 21st century reader, however, could be somewhat repelled by the outrightly villainous representations of white people who are now the classmates, co-workers, teachers and peers in our more desegregated, modern surroundings. In other words, Black Folktales must be read with an acute awareness of the context in which it was born, highlighting the pressures, frictions and tensions of a growing nation that, at the time, was being stretched beyond its known limitations.
Sources
Children's Literature Review, Vol. 2.
Something About the Author, Vol 157.
Sutherland, Zena. Center for Children's Books Bulletin. 1970.
Wikipedia