When I was growing up, one of my favorite shows was the PBS historical fiction series “Liberty’s Kids”. There are three main characters- a British girl named Sarah, a young French boy named Henri, and the lead, a white teenager named James. Henri is the plucky, unintelligent kid with an exaggerated French accent while Sarah is a slightly smarter damsel in distress. James is the one who is the start and end of plans, and is always in the center of the action.
Moreover, there is a recurring character named Moses. Moses is a freed slave from Africa- despite this, he has no accent to speak of. He works for Ben Franklin and seems content to go on adventures with the kids. In the episode I’m citing, he watches his brother get sold and then tries to free him. His brother resists, calling it “too dangerous” and both Moses and his brother submit to the will of their oppressors. Moses seems perfectly happy to be a freed slave in America and is not shown to be struggling or a second-class citizen at all. He agrees to let his brother take a deal, in which he is freed if he fights for the British army. This is seen as an opportunity on the show, whereas in real life this seems like a terribly unfair deal. I’m attaching the segment of the episode below for reference.
McIntyre, Doug, and Jim Staahl. “Librty or Death.” Liberty’s Kids. PBS. 5 Sept. 2002. Television.
This post is interesting. I don’t know that it is an example of Racial Innocence though because (however well or not) it deals with issues of race and history of oppression explicitly. The idea of Racial Innocence applies to the way in which a particular racially violent idea or practice gets masked (so that it can be preserved even as it’s forgotten) within some aspect of children’s culture because we attribute to children and all things child some innate aura of innocence.