“Read Across America Day,” which takes place annually or near Dr Suess’ birthday on March 2, seemed to have been erased from the White House proclamation. During President Joe Biden’s proclamation about reading, he made no mention of the famous author.
“Reading is the gateway to countless skills and possibilities — it sets children on the path to a lifetime of discovery. On this Read Across America Day, we celebrate the parents, educators, librarians, and other champions of reading who help launch our Nation’s children on that critical path,” President Biden said.
Former President Barack Obama honored Theodor Suess Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Suess, as a man whose whimsical wordplay and curious characters inspired children to dream big. He has reminded readers in all generations that ‘A person’s a person no matter how small.’”
Former President Trump also honored Suess’ words: ‘You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.’”
But the dynamic changed when a study came out from the ‘Conscious Kid’s Library and the University of California-San Diego researchers’ indicating that of the 50 children’s books they studied by the children’s author, there are only forty-five characters of color representing 2% of the total number of human characters.
“Notably, every character of color is male. Males of color are only presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles. This also remains true in their relation to white characters. Most startling is the complete invisibility and absence of women and girls of color across Seuss’ entire children’s book collection,” said the study authors, Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens.
The company overseeing the legacy of the Dr. Suess books recently announced that it will stop selling six of his titles because they “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” They informed publisher Penguin Random House that they would not continue printing “If I Ran the Zoo,” “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, one of Dr. Suess’ stepdaughters, said ‘there isn’t a racist bone in that man’s body. She said she hopes the pulled books will eventually go back into print, especially since three of the halted titles grew out of memories of his happy childhood in Springfield, Mass.
“’Mulberry Street’ [particularly] always makes me smile. I think the lesson to learn from that book is, ‘Don’t give up,’ Dimond-Cates said.
She called her stepdad a “sensitive, intelligent, caring man” who advocated for environmental conservation through books such as “The Lorax.” The decision to halt six titles came on what would’ve been the writer’s 117th birthday.
Glenn Beck argued on his show that this is fascism. “They are banning Dr. Seuss books. How much more do you need to see before all of America wakes up? … This is fascism! We don’t destroy books. What is wrong with us, America?” He asked.
While Republicans focus on stimulating the economy and getting kids back to school, Democrats are creating a culture war by canceling Dr. Suess and Mr. Potato Head.
Remember this? And now all of a sudden Dr. Suess is racist.
