The new books by the young chief Winnetou are racist and highly problematic: a small mob wrote on Instagram. The publisher responsible reacted in panic – and showed how not to deal with such shitstorms.
The children’s book publisher Ravensburger quickly said goodbye to the young Winnetou.
Beatrice Achterberg, editor of the NZZ in Germany
You are reading an excerpt from the weekday newsletter “The Other View”, today by Beatrice Achterberg, editor of the NZZ in Germany. Subscribe to the newsletter for free. Not resident in Germany? Benefit here.
“Perhaps the nerves of red people are less sensitive than those of white people,” wrote Karl May at the end of the 19th century in his Winnetou novel “Der Schatz im Silbersee” and probably had no idea that white people’s sensitivity would continue into the century after next would continue. Only today it is no longer about enduring the pain at the stake, but about what is printed in children’s books.
The publication of three books for the current children’s film “The Young Chief Winnetou” aroused some tender hearts in the social networks. The Ravensburger publishing house, which is popular with both children and parents and was founded in 1883, published the adventures of the Apache son Winnetou as readers and cheerfully announced it on Instagram in mid-August.
Most successful outrage
However, the joy was also met with rejection. The books reproduced racial stereotypes; Colonization and genocide were played down by the publication, according to the publisher’s Instagram post. It was “highly problematic” that such children’s books would still be published in 2022, wrote a user, “Incredible!”, A blogger judged.
The outrage was highly successful, the publisher apologized and decided after just a few days to stop delivering the books and the puzzle that went with them. “Your feedback has clearly shown us that we have hurt the feelings of others with the Winnetou titles,” said the publisher in a statement just released. And further: “Our editors deal intensively with topics such as diversity or cultural appropriation.” External consultants had also checked the book in advance for the correct handling of sensitive topics and found it to be good.
As intense as the debate on the topic of “cultural appropriation” was allegedly, it evidently started late. Because before the protest on the Internet, the publisher had decided to publish the books about the film. In online mail order, they were bestsellers, and the outrage of some Instagram commentators was not reflected in the sales. Until now.
And what for? Because an angry group sensed racism and because a concerned company would rather sell fewer books than deal with such allegations. That’s the wrong way.
An online mob is not a stakeholder
Day in, day out, the constant outrage rages on the Internet. She meets one person today and another tomorrow, and experience has shown that when she meets a company, it initially changes little or nothing in terms of sales figures. Unless management can be made nervous and ennobles the mob as a stakeholder – which the rabid ones would like to be, but are not.
Others are relevant: the owners of the company, the employees, suppliers and above all the customers. If, after buying the Winnetou books and the puzzle, outraged parents had turned to the publisher and if the sales figures had collapsed, then Ravensburger would have been well advised to take the criticism seriously and react.
Customer satisfaction is the hard currency, not the outrage of some commentators on the net. The latter doesn’t last long either. The next allegedly highly problematic book is soon discovered, the next illustration found to be deeply hurtful. Anyone who begins to react to such criticism will eventually find themselves in front of empty shelves.
In addition, you risk irritating your real customers, if not scaring them away. Among the parents who still intended to get their children the Winnetou books, some will probably feel patronized; the publisher has taken the decision for them as to which fictional worlds their children are allowed to experience and which not. And what should the parents think who have already grabbed it? In the eyes of not only the online rabble-rousers, but now also the publishers, they have failed pedagogically.
The Winnetou works have been among the most widely read books in the world for generations. The world that Karl May imagined without having been to the Wild West himself will continue to fascinate. It was only towards the end of his life that he undertook a trip to America; most of the adventures were already written down and devoured by readers all over the world.
Ravensburger Verlag should have stayed relaxed and trusted both the judgment of its editors and the purchasing decisions of its customers. Those who set up stakes in the net are impatient. If you politely but firmly dismiss their excitement, they will seek out other victims.