During his lifetime, American author Theodore Geisel sold well over a half-billion books, and became one of the most prolific and celebrated novelists the world has ever known. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904, Geisel’s books had been translated into over 20-different languages by the time of his death in 1991. If you’re reading this, then you, yourself, have probably read dozens of the more than 60 books Geisel authored in his lifetime.
So then, why aren’t you familiar with Theodore Geisel?
Well, you are…just not by that name. The world knew Theodore Geisel as Dr. Seuss.
Tuesday, March 2, would have been Geisel’s 117th birthday. This is a day that has been nationally celebrated as “Dr. Seuss Day.” That was, of course, before the allegations of Dr. Seuss’ alleged racism began.
A February 2019 article written by Tiara Jenkins and Jessica Yarmosky for National Public Radio cited the books “And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street,” and “If I Ran the Zoo” as examples of Geisel’s perceived racism.
As stated in their article, “Some of Seuss’ classics have been criticized for the way they portray people of color. In ‘And To Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street,’ for example, a character described as Chinese has two lines for eyes, carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice and wears traditional Japanese-style shoes. In ‘If I Ran the Zoo’, two men said to be from Africa are shown shirtless, shoeless and wearing grass skirts as they carry an exotic animal.”
In a 2019 study by The Conscious Kid Library, in partnership with the University of California, San Diego, researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramon Stephens state, “This study addresses a gap in Seuss literature by revealing how racism spans across the entire Seuss collection, while debunking myths about how books like ‘Horton Hears a Who!’ and ‘The Sneetches’ can be used to promote tolerance, anti-bias, or anti-racism. Findings from this study promote awareness of the racist narratives and images in Dr. Seuss’ children’s books and implications to the formation and reinforcement of racial biases in children.”
In 2017, the National Education Association (NEA) began to distance themselves from the legacy of Dr. Seuss by emphasizing March 2 as “Read Across America” day, and focusing on the theme of “a nation of diverse readers”.
And now, in 2021, that distance has been made even larger.
It has been reported, by numerous media-outlets, that Loudoun County, Virginia has chosen to ban, or rather “cancel,” all of the works of Dr. Seuss from public schools ahead of this year’s “Read Across America” week-long celebration. The reports claim that this decision was made as a result of pressure from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Learning for Justice” activist-division.
The Southern Poverty Law Center allegedly cited “racial undertones” as their primary motivation for pressuring Loudoun County schools to ban the books.
“Realizing that many schools continue to celebrate ‘Read Across America’ day in partial recognition of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, it is important for us to be cognizant of research that may challenge our practice in this regard,” Loudoun County school officials said, in a statement released last week. “As we become more culturally responsive and racially conscious, all building leaders should know that in recent years there has been research revealing racial undertones in the books written and the illustrations drawn by Dr. Seuss.”
In a February 26 opinion-piece in the Washington Times, Kelly Sadler writes, “Learning for Justice found Dr. Seuss’ books are plagued with ‘orientalism, anti-blackness and white-supremacy, Additionally, too many of the non-white characters are male.
Last year, Burbank United School District in California banned five classic novels from being taught in their curriculum: Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, Mark Twain’s ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, John Steinback’s ‘Of Mice and Men’, Theodore Taylor’s ‘The Cay’ and Mildred D. Taylor’s Newberry Medal-winning young-adult classic ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry’.
The calls to ban were similar to that of Dr. Seuss – they caused potential harm to the public school’s black children because of their racial undertones. All but ‘Huckleberry Finn’ was required reading.”
Neither the Loudoun County Board of Education nor the Southern Poverty Law Center immediately returned the West Virginia Daily News’ request for comment. However, Washington Post reporter Valerie Strauss disputed the claim that Loudoun County banned the books of Dr. Seuss in a story published on Feb. 27, citing a statement from Loudoun County Schools’ spokesperson Wayde B. Byard.
In the statement, Byard says, “Dr. Seuss books have not been banned in Loudoun County Public School. [] We want to encourage our young readers to read all types of books that are inclusive and diverse and reflective of our student community, not simply celebrate Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss and his books are no longer the emphasis of ‘Read Across America Day.’ That being said, Dr. Seuss books have not been banned; they are still available to students in our libraries and classrooms.”
While Byard’s statement would seem to put the question as to whether or not Loudoun County did, in fact, ban the books to rest, the debate continues regarding Dr. Seuss’ perceived racism. Is there truly long-overlooked inherent racially-charged overtures targeted at to most susceptible among us in the works of Dr. Seuss, or is this another example of an overly-sensitive “cancel culture” looking for evil where none exists?
The West Virginia Daily News will provide updates regarding the situation in Loudoun County Schools as additional details are made available.
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