1. Brer Rabbit

2. “BOY, WHO WAS BRER RABBIT?
He was your mother’s back-door man, I thought. Anyone knew they were one and the same: ‘Buckeye’ when you were very young and hid yourself behind wide innocent eyes; ‘Brer,’ when you were older.” (pg 242)

3. Origins Western, Central, and Southern Africa Trickster
West Africa he is a spider but similar stories
American Version is thought to be slaves outsmarting owners
Brer refers to greeting others as brother

4. Tar Baby Story
Brer Fox and Brer Bear make a doll covered with tar and trap Brer Rabbit
Brer Rabbit tricks Brer Fox into flinging him into a brier patch, where rabbits are at home
Trickery allows escape

5. Uncle Remus Narrator of African American Folktales Fictional
Created by Joel Chandler Harris in 1881
Stories told in Slave Dialect
“Uncle” had racist connotation

6. Disney Story Appears in Song of the South
Never released on VHS because of race issues
Splash Mountain ride uses beehive instead of Tar Baby
Children’s story

7. Buckeye vs. Brer Buckeye is children’s version
Children don’t see racism
Brer is version for those who are enlightened
Blindness

8. Questions
What other children’s stories have a much deeper meaning, similar to Brer Rabbit?
Are there situations in which you have been ignorant to the true meaning behind something, or an situation in which others have been blind to the meaning of something?

9. “BOY, WHO WAS BRER RABBIT?
He was your mother’s back-door man, I thought. Anyone knew they were one and the same: ‘Buckeye’ when you were very young and hid yourself behind wide innocent eyes; ‘Brer,’ when you were older.” (pg 242)