‘Problematic:’ College Lecturer Alleges ‘Peter Rabbit’ Tales Were Stolen From African Slaves

A lecturer at a college university in England accused a beloved 👧Children’s book author of stealing stories from African slaves.

On May 19, Dr. Emily Zobel Marshall from Leeds Beckett University claimed in an article the ‘Peter Rabbit’ tales by author Beatrix Potter, who died in 1943, plagiarized earlier works.

“As a scholar of folktales and postcolonial literature, however, I spend a lot of time tracing the roots of stories and examining the impact of colonial legacies on them. While rereading another collection of 👧Children’s stories featuring the ‘trickster hero’ Brer Rabbit – for my own book on how these folktales were introduced to North America by enslaved Africans – it became clear to me that the similarities between Beatrix Potter’s tales and the Brer Rabbit stories demand further consideration,” Marshall wrote.

She added, “The tales of Brer Rabbit can be traced back to pre-colonial Africa, from where they were transported to the plantations of America by enslaved people. The stories