Publishers attacked over 'racist' word in comic

Published on 15/11/2006 01:40

THE publishers of one of Scotland's most famous comics have been criticised after it was claimed a reprinted annual contained racist material.

The Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance (GARA) is calling for the reprint of the 1939 Dandy annual to be removed from bookstores because of numerous references to the word "nigger" in its "Smarty Grandpa" strip.

But the Dundee publisher DC Thomson, which has distributed thousands of the annuals to shops, said it would not be fair to publish a reprint in which certain words were omitted.

Anita Shelton, a spokeswoman for GARA, said the sale of the annual was not acceptable.

"This kind of thing cannot be permitted with ease at this point in our development as a society," she said. "It is an outrage and is terribly disturbing."

She added that GARA was planning to write to DC Thomson and ask it to withdraw all copies from bookshops.

A DC Thomson spokesman said: "The position that we have adopted is that this annual is of its time - we would not have published this word in the Dandy of today.

"It is a true facsimile copy and we don't feel it is something we should edit."

He added that it would not be accepted by collectors as a true reprint if words were taken out.

A spokeswoman for the Commission for Racial Equality said it had not received any complaints about the annual.

"It is not for us to decide on what people may or may not take offence to," she said.

"We should celebrate the fact that we live in a time where such ideas around race are no longer seen as appropriate and our society does not condone this kind of language."