British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has pulled his new children’s book from shelves, saying he was “devastated” by the offense he caused following criticism that the book stereotyped Indigenous Australians.
The book narrates the abduction of a First Nations Indigenous character named Ruby, who is living in foster care and is abducted by the book's main villain.
For decades, successive Australian governments forcibly removed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families as part of an assimilation policy.
The book also equates First Nations beliefs and spirituality with magic in the book, NATSIEC said, calling it a long-held stereotype.
The book also contained errors made by mixing different Indigenous languages, which NATSIEC said reinforced the "harmful stereotype that Indigenous peoples are a homogenous group."
Persons:
Jamie Oliver, “, “ Billy, ”, Oliver, Jamie, Ruby, ” NATSIEC, NATSIEC
Organizations:
Random, Nations, National Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation, Torres Strait, First Nations
Locations:
”, Australia
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