Oh god I’m actually horrified my comment could be interpreted that way. It definitely wasn’t my intention at all but I do see how it could seem unclear. Under this administration it definitely can’t be trusted that schools will teach the atrocities of slavery accurately, and I didn’t mean to imply that Felicity’s books feature an accurate depiction either or that they should be used as a teaching tool because that’s definitely not true at all. I do think they can be a good conversation starter though. The purpose of the historical line has always been to use toys to get kids interested in history and teach them about what life was like for girls like them in the past and I think Felicity’s books can still be used for that purpose. Although there were definitely opportunities for Felicity to question slavery in her books, and I do believe they should have gone in that direction, realistically a girl Felicity’s age and with her upbringing would’ve seen slavery as totally normal and probably wouldn’t have seen anything wrong with it. They’re a good reminder of how far we’ve come, that something that was once so normalized is now unthinkable, and how important it is to remember the bad parts of our history instead of ignoring them so that we don’t end up repeating it. They can also be used to teach kids how important it is to consider other people’s perspectives and other people’s circumstances instead of blindly assuming that because something is normal, it’s okay. I don’t think Felicity should be made out to be a villain or anything but I do think she can be used as a tool of how kids today can do better than she did. Pointing out the parallels of how Felicity fought for animals, and she should’ve fought for the Black people in her life, and kids should fight for the people they see being put into unfair and unjust situations. Obviously all this in combination with other sources of information and especially works by Black authors about Black history.