Little Babaji, my Sambo

The story of Little Black Sambo is one I became very familiar with in youth. I enjoyed it to the point that I once hid it to prevent my mother from returning it to the library. However, the story I grew to love and herishwas not the story of Sambo, but of his cultural parallel, Little Babaji. Little Babaji was Indian, not black, yet is an exact replica of Sambo in every mental and physical way except race.When we began to discuss the idea of Sambo in class, I stopped to reflect on the messages I received from the book as a child. In my memory the story of Sambo/Babaji is comprised of several events.

1. The book began with Sambo receiving nice clothing, shoes, and an umbrella from his mother. Looking back, this confuses me if Sambo was meant to parallel a slave. I accept that the material goods may be representing food or simply the rare event if a gift was bestowed on a slave. Yet, it is surprising to me that the typical slave would be portrayed as privileged with such nice accesories. Anyhow, Sambo walked off into the jungle happy as can be in his new finery. Yes, it was made very clear that he was simple, unworried, ignorant of his surroundings and happy.
2. Sambo had to give away each item to a tiger in order to save himself. This too puzzled me. What could this represent? Perhaps the fact that slaves had to sacrifice a lot of important things in order to stay alive and with one master. They lost much of their culture, identity, freedom of speech, religion, print and the ability too carry arms or earn an education. Each of the countless things slaves were denied of could certainly represent something as fine as a  pair of satin shoes. I am still unsure of whether this is the connection the author intended. Sambo was very scared of the tigers, he wouldn't dare to physically attack them in order to regain what had been taken from him. Many slaves too, were thought to be too timid to act out against their masters.
3. Sambo outsmarts the tigers by tying their tails together. This was my favorite part as a child. I loved the illustration of the tigers looking silly and confused as Babaji tricked them. The solution to his problem was plain and simple. Was this an illustration of how slaves were able to reobtain some freedoms, without their masters being aware of it. The freedoms I'm thinking of are those of meeting to practice their own form of religion or to sing in the fields. These are tricks that kept the owners unaware of the fact that they were reobtaining some rights. Whenever Babaji adressed the tigers he was very polite and addressed them as Mr. Tiger. This detail is a direct parallel to the sterotype of Sambo.
4. The tigers spin into butter, which Babaji collects for his mother to make pancakes with. This, I believe, is the most important part of the story. It is a happy ending in which Sambo forgets all that has happened with the tigers and is overwhelmed with joy because he is treated to a surplus of pancakes. This hilights his childishness, absent-minded, and simple characteristics. I think it is key that food was the charm to his happiness because slaves were in fact usually well fed in order to keep them strong and able bodied. Perhaps the slave masters believed (or wished) that the slaves would overlook the abuse and inequities of their life due to the fact that they were fed by their masters. Or, in a different light, maybe this parallels the owners feeding the slaves when ignorant of their efforts to find the pretences under which they could again enjoy privilege, or (in the case of Babaji) satin shoes.

One last thing I feel compelled to point out is that, in my copy of Sambo, Sambo was Babaji the Indian. I find this very curious if slaves in the south have a parallel to slaves in India. Does the parallel continue? At one point in time, Indians were also discriminated against. I wonder how far this Sambo characterization extends, and whether it crosses into multiple cultures.