On March 2 — beloved children author Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel’s birthday — Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it had, after
working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.
Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.
Immediately, Seuss book sales shot to the top on Amazon, and right-wing gas baggers opined that this was yet another example of cancel culture removing something essential from the rest of us.
Geisel grew up in Springfield, Mass., which is now the home of a wonderful, whimsical museum devoted to his work, and this is not the first time someone has questioned some of his work’s racially insensitive portrayals. This hardly fits the definition of so-called cancel culture. As children’s literature scholar Philip Nel, of Kansas State University, told Esquire magazine, the company has basically said:
"We're not going to publish these six books anymore. We're essentially taking responsibility for the culture we put out into the world. Profiting off of books with racist imagery is not something we want to do."
The decision came from the source of the questionable material, after serious consideration and deliberation. No one got “canceled.” How about we call it “growth?”
Thank you Susan. My thoughts exactly. I think the folks who are all over this as outrage are the same folks who will not look into the dark corners of their own hearts and minds because then they might see, and having seen, they might have some work to do.
What I find crazyabout this and the Mr./Mrs. Potato Head dust up, are the memes posted that say it's President Biden and Democrats making these changes... and it's SO easy to find out it's not! Even if people didn't try to find out the truth, wouldn't you stop for a second and think the President might have more important things to do?? I feel like we're still living in 'bizarro-world."