And to Think That I Saw It…on a Dr. Seuss book
Many of us grew up with the name Dr. Seuss, the author behind some of our most beloved children’s books – but looking back at his work today we see some harmful remnants of his era that are better off gone.
Dr. Seuss enterprises, the company committed to taking care of Dr. Seuss’ legacy, made the decision to pull 6 books from their catalogue after consulting some educators on the issue.
In a study back in 2019, most of Dr. Seuss’s books are said to often have racist depictions of people of color. Among his questionable works is “If I Ran to the Zoo,” where a white male is seen carried by three Asians with conical hats and exaggerated slanted eyes. The book “And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street” features a white male whipping a turban-wearing man on an elephant. The other ones chosen to be discontinued are “McElligot’s Pool”; “On Beyond Zebra!”; “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
The news has the internet buzzing with discussion about the late author’s works.
Cartoonist and creator of Musical Man and the Magic Kazoo, Vincent Alexander gave his thoughts on twitter:
I feel like I should weigh in on the Dr. Seuss controversy: Seuss used ignorant racial stereotypes typical of the period in his early work, but grew more progressive over time. He was drawing staunchly anti-racist cartoons during WWII, a very bold move in the early ‘40s. pic.twitter.com/M9IJTL9iCB
— Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) March 3, 2021
Dr. Seuss’ step-daughter agreed with the decision: “I think in this day and age, it’s a wise decision. I think this is a world that right now is in pain, and we’ve all got to be very gentle and thoughtful and kind with each other.” Though she disagreed with the thoughts that the author was racist at all and that “he didn’t have a racist bone in his body.”
While those subtle signs of racism may have gone over our heads at the time, it was a different era and society has definitely progressed since then. Perhaps we should take a look at other works from that period, and maybe consider separating the art from its artists?
POP! Creator Community/Viking Ulanday
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