About a week ago, the Dr Seuss estate stated that they will no longer be publishing six of his books due to racists tropes and insensitive portrayals. Almost immediately following the announcement, many have claimed Dr Seuss, born Theodor Seuss Geisel, to be the latest victim of the ever controversial “cancel culture”. If you are unaware, “cancel culture” is a new form of exclusion where someone is forced out of a social or professional circle, most commonly via social media. “Cancel culture” is constantly under scrutiny, most commonly by conservatives, for being in violation of our first amendment right of free speech. This instance with Dr Seuss is no different with conservative voices like Brian Kilmeade of Fox News who claimed, “The cancel culture is canceling Dr Seuss…It’s out of control.” First let me just say, Dr Seuss is not “canceled”, he is simply finally being held somewhat accountable for his racism. Second, changing or even ending publication of certain children’s books has not come with this idea of “cancel culture” but has been happening for a long time. Why the outrage now? In fact, the six books that are no longer being published include some racist imagery that contradict the different views Geisel himself developed later in life, leading some to believe that even he might have been ashamed of these works. Early in his career during the second world war, Geisel created overtly racist, anti-Japanese cartoons but found his original beliefs to be wrong once he visited Japan years later and spoke with those who witnessed the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima. Following this realization, his apology came in the form of a new book –Horton Hears a Who!
Like I previously mentioned, intense editing or ceasing publication of children’s books due to racist or insensitive portrayals is not new. The immensely popular children’s series Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys were originally published starting in 1930 and 1927 respectively, but went through a big update in 1959. While the publishers made small edits the series such as including more modern slang and an electric guitar, they also changed multiple characters from horribly racist stereotypes to white, or they deleted the character altogether. So, while the series as a whole became way more white, the stories also became less blatantly racist. Even Geisel himself made revisions on some of his stories during his lifetime in an effort to “tone down racial stereotypes in some of his books”. Changing stories to make them more appropriate for children is normal. If it wasn’t, children would still be hearing the version of Cinderella where the step-sisters cut off their own feet to fit into the shoe.
So no, Dr Seuss is not canceled. What’s actually happening is our world is evolving and instead of reading racist Dr Seuss books we have plenty of diverse, unproblematic children’s titles to choose from instead. With a quick Google search, you are able to find dozens of lists for Dr Seuss alternatives to read to your children. What is often perceived as “cancel culture” is actually just people being held accountable for their racism or otherwise offensive actions or behaviors. The world has not gone “soft” and isn’t full of “snowflakes” but is actually starting to hold racists accountable for their actions. Also, the argument that “it was a different time back then” doesn’t cut it either. You can acknowledge the time period of a piece of work without excusing the racism as, news flash, racism is never okay no matter the time period. With all that being said, whether it’s full of adult or children literature, consider diversifying your bookshelf. You can often learn so much more from the stories you don’t see yourself in.
HCXO,
Maeve