UK bookstore yanks racist Tintin comic

I grew up reading both Tintin and the Asterix comics. My stepmother's family is European, and the Tintin graphic novels have long been a part of the growing up process in many European households. I was handed many a second- or third-hand Tintin book in my youth.

Now, it has been somewhat accepted that a spirit of post-colonial, pre-WWII European worldview pervades Tintin's pages. That is to say: The Adventures of Tintin are full of racism. I can't lie; I read them, and I understood that then as I do now. That's why I find this story interesting: a man shopping with his family in a UK Borders bookstore picked up a copy of Tintin in the Congo and, shocked by the book's racism, filed a complaint. The store subsequently pulled the book from its shelves.

Now, understand that Tintin in the Congo was first published in 1931. That is not an excuse, merely an explanation. White Belgians (like Tintin creator Herge) were generally disdainful of the colonies then, including the Congo. I understand where David Enright--the man who asked for the book to be pulled--is coming from (it's worth noting that Enright's wife is African) and his shock at encountering this racism in the kid's section of the store. On the other hand--it's a 76 year old graphic novel that is a snapshot of the mind of a nation at that time. Surely there's historical value in that, lessons about the past that you may wish to impart on your children?