"But now that I am better informed, I am committed to advocating for change. Because when we know better, we should do better."
Writes Maureen Downey (in the Atlanta Journal Constitution).
So drearily earnest...
She means well. Is she anxious about what else she may be unknowingly doing... such as depriving children of the fun of reading Dr. Seuss or generating morbid fears about strange manifestations of racism or being too subservient about taking instruction from dull people who are oversure of their puritanical notions of racial correctness?
Downey links to what she calls a "fantastic list" of other books to give to children, but it's not just a list. It's an opinionated blog post, "Dr. Seuss was racist. Why are we still reading his books?"
... I pulled out the extensive collection of Dr. Seuss books that I have in my home and re-read them with a critical lens only to find that the themes of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism are garishly prevalent. I have used Dr. Seuss books in my classroom for the last ten years. I feel disgusted knowing that I not only celebrated these texts, but the life of Theodore Geisel. Dr. Seuss books will no longer have a place in my home. The messages that children absorb through literature will impact their racial beliefs. Without proper support in navigating the harmful messages from books like Dr. Seuss’s, children are likely to transfer what they read to their play and social life....Go to that link to see the suggestions of books to read in place of particular Dr. Seuss books. The book covers are depicted, so you can get a sense of the kind of drawing that anti-Seussers think could work as a substitute for his highly idiosyncratic work. But these substitutes just have blandly realistic, sentimental illustrations that depict people of color. If you want to replace Dr. Seuss, the first thing you'll need some exciting, inventive drawing! And you've got to have a little edge to the story. It can't be just love is important and nice people are nice.
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1 – 200 of 203 Newer› Newest»The Democrats are abandoning the high ground on great art. It remains to be seen where this will lead. I guess that they are betting on destroying the ability to appreciate great art in the younger generations. “Wokeness Uber Alles”
The rise of the Mega-Karen.
I wouldn't trust this woman to raise a hamster, much less a child.
I've got a list of books that I intend to buy in hard copy (not e-book versions) to have them before they are completely banned by Jeff Bezos and his friends. I now have to jump on these Dr. Seuss books. Seriously- who knew the left could be such a bunch of totalitarians?
All of us. All of us knew. We have 100 years of history to tell us so.
LOLGFY
"...a National Board Certified teacher"
This is a certification that will mean less and less until we reach the point where anyone who has this will be regarded as unemployable.
There are a few problematic drawings in, iirc, _IF I Ran The Zoo_ and a line about folks whose "eyes are a-slant", which I skipped over when reading to my China-born niece, but *come on*!
The Sleep Book is still the best way to get a keyed up child to sleep while entertaining yourself. The Sneetches is still the best childhood anti-racism parable. McElligot's Pool (perhaps the most beautifully colored Seuss) is still a classic take of the victory of hope over experience (without wholly siding with the narrator), and I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew is one of the best anti-utopian takes around!
How does a dumb bitch like this hold a prominent job and get published?
This woman is too damned stupid to wipe her own ass without supervision.
And you thought Trump was weird, prof.
Jesus, were you ever completely out to lunch over Trump, prof.
He was what was holding back this deluge of fucking morons. How did you miss this?
Destroying books that are subjective in a political group’s interpretation of what is in them? That sounds vaguely familiar. Hmmmmm...oh yeah, a group of Central European crazies did that in the mid-1930’s...
I was so sad when I realized, it was about 12 years ago, that the children's books were being destroyed. I had thirty or so, because there is a period of about a year or two, where your children are interested in them. Many of them were older because I'd bought them second hand.
And most of them were well done. There were some really good stories and illustrations. But unless you've inherited them from someone, no child of today will ever read them, or have them read to them, because, well I think the excuse is the ink.
Anyway I kind of think it's about politics. Even twelve years ago I thought the reason for the burning of these books is politics. Not that these books were political. But they don't have woke messages. And that is enough to make them political.
The best book on race ever written by anyone is Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches, which not only strongly suggests that race is stupid, but also reveals the race hucksters for what they are.
---So drearily earnest... She means well. Is she anxious about what else she may be unknowingly doing... such as depriving children of the fun of reading Dr. Seuss or generating morbid fears about strange manifestations of racism or being too subservient about taking instruction from dull people who are oversure of their puritanical notions of racial correctness? [AA]
When you're right, you're right. The three damning words in there: "she means well." A near-guarantee of satanic effects.
She means well.
Gonna be using this one a lot.
I've got a list of books that I intend to buy in hard copy (not e-book versions) to have them before they are completely banned by Jeff Bezos and his friends.
Buy Huck Finn now. These people are insane and/or cowards.
When you read anything out of the context of the times it is written in you can read into it whatever you want. Context is everything.
If you read Huckleberry Finn by todays New Puritans it is a racist screed. But when you know the history of the times and a little about Samuel Clemens you realize it was a scathing indictment of racism.
The progressives repeat history every day.
As someone said in a different thread a few days ago, it must be absolutely exhausting to be one of these people.
Moral panic du jour.
Horton hears a Who. “A person’s a person, no matter how small” - surprised he wasn’t cancelled decades ago just for this line.
Homeschooling and private schools are looking more and more attractive to parents who can afford to do it. When they leave, they take more than their children away from the schools. The anger at white parents who left during school desegregation wasn't because it left black kids with fewer white kids to sit beside. It was because they took the Booster Club, the Band Parents' Association, the people who paid for the "fleld trip scholarships", and a lot of the "at home moms" who volunteered in the schools with them. The white parents who couldn't afford to follow them were the angriest of all.
"The best book on race ever written by anyone is Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches, which not only strongly suggests that race is stupid, but also reveals the race hucksters for what they are."
That book is singled out for critique at the second link:
"The Sneetches is often used to teach concepts of anti-racism and discrimination to young children and is promoted on several social-justice platforms. The oppressed group (Plain-belly Sneetches) are portrayed as moping in their sadness and that they expend all their resources and efforts to try to become like the dominant group (Star-belly Sneetches). However, as the study says, “[t]his is a problematic and misguided way of perceiving oppressed groups. Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture. Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor” (Ishizuka, Katie and Stephens*, Ramón, 2019). "
It's one of the books for which alternatives are suggested. One is — and I'm not kidding — "Antiracist Baby." Not to be confused with PC babies.
How many kids got their love of books and reading from Dr Seuss.
I know my kids did. I must have read them Green Eggs and Ham a thousand times.
I've got a list of books that I intend to buy in hard copy (not e-book versions) to have them before they are completely banned by Jeff Bezos and his friends.
The problem with book-burners is that you won't be able to compile a list of books to save. Obviously books like Huck Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird will be censored. Those books are on the subject of race.
But going after Dr. Seuss is another level of crazy. Who would imagine that you have to buy Dr. Seuss now, before they censor it? The lists are getting bigger and bigger all the time.
"... I pulled out the extensive collection of Dr. Seuss books that I have in my home and re-read them with a critical lens..."
Lavrentiy Beria made extensive and productive use of the "critical lens" in the Soviet Union. Maureen Downey should take care that the lens does not soon find her.
Maureen Downey is one of the (many) reasons I quit reading the 'Atlanta Journal Constitution' many years ago.
"She means well."
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
This reminds me of recovered memory that swept the country in the '90's, destroying an untold number of lives.
Because...science.
Impossible. I was assured that it would never go beyond Confederate statues.
I don't suppose Little Black Sambo is on the approved list.
Maureen Downey whines Dr. Seuss drew colored people the wrong way, then she whines that he didn't draw enough colored people. Ya can't win!
Did you know? "The words "grinch," "nextly," and "nerd" are all attributed to Seuss in the Oxford English Dictionary, where he at one point was enrolled in the English literature program."
Historically, banning books is what the Bad Guys do.
I recall when "I read banned books" was a point of liberal pride.
This never ending hunt for racism is as pernicious as Satan himself
But going after Dr. Seuss is another level of crazy. Who would imagine that you have to buy Dr. Seuss now, before they censor it? The lists are getting bigger and bigger all the time.
A lot of us saw this coming for years. SJWism has never been about actual justice, but about power. It's about the young activists demonstrating how pure they are and their ability to mobilize the masses in order to gain social position over their peers. It's about the power that comes with destroying all vestiges of a common culture and identity, reducing people to atomized individuals and small tribes constantly at each other's throats, and it's about the raw power that nihilists feel when they destroy for the sake of destruction. As such, it never ends. There is always a new enemy on the horizon.
@Ann - that kind of criticism drives me nuts. It's basically opinions masquerading as canon.
Like talking a bunch of different Star Trek fans about the various reboots.
If you like your sneeches, kick the critics to the curb, I says.
-XC
Cancel Fahrenheit 451.
Mr Wibble said...
Impossible. I was assured that it would never go beyond Confederate statues.
Nikki Haley assured us it would never go beyond that one particular flag.
Sneetches get steetches.
There's a good little editorial on this topic in the WSJ. If the link works, it's on page A15.
https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/ShcKRaooSRCA2dP29KqR-WSJNewsPaper-3-2-2021.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3dbnZCeZ5GvvWjMsVfQ3wVPe7zmPS6C-pDWw3HQAGgPdANKvzaZSFut0I
I've got a great idea! Let's all get together and build a great big bonfire... Oh wait.
"So drearily earnest"
So are all Karens.
This is how the nice women of America aid and abet prog destruction.
They like the dreariness of the new prog regime. Makes them feel virtuous.
serious question
can somebody (Anybody?) point out a time or place,
where the book burners ended up being the good people?
just one?
Just dropping by to say the description "drearily earnest" is wonderful. I'll probably steal it from time to time.
“A is for Activist” is a recommended Seuss replacement to learn the alphabet. She’s not just trying to protect young minds from the Seuss messages. She’s replacing them with her own progressive messages. She seeks indoctrination. Such a nice lady.
So are all Karens.
This is how the nice women of America aid and abet prog destruction.
They like the dreariness of the new prog regime. Makes them feel virtuous.
Upper-middle-class white women are some of the most tribal people around. Their social position is precarious, they have limited power, and they often lack the cultural/religious/social structure necessary for their sanity. So instead they devote themselves to these stupid causes with a religious fervor, for lack of any better identity.
Geisel was an insufferable leftie. They're going after their own.
I wonder if Geisel would cancel himself if he were alive today? Gluppity-glup! Shlippety-shlop! I'm a big bigot and I must be stopped!!!
Oh for Christ's sake. Will this idiocy ever end?
Shhhhh....don’t tell Jim Carrey about this.
"If you are working towards becoming anti-racist, then nostalgia isn’t a good enough reason to hold onto books that devalue and degrade BIPOC people. If we are raising racially conscious children, there isn’t room for neutrality and excuses."
From the book list.
School sounds super fun these days.
"But they don't have woke messages. And that is enough to make them political."
There are internet attacks on every prominent TV show that was obviously intended as entertainment. There won't be any rest until all programming is indoctrination.
"The lists are getting bigger and bigger all the time."
You're dealing with concentric circles of disapproved items, so successive circles will contain more and more unapproved items.
I need some of those critical lenses for my reading glasses.
"Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture."
That's another "you can't win" statement: ignore their "culture" and you're erasing it; don't ignore it and you're either colonizing it or appropriating it. Silly words for bogus ideas.
But since there aren't actually any oppressed communities in the US, it sounds like these mysterious people are fighting to remain oppressed by their own stupid cultures.
I'd recommend Tootle, learning the lesson that playing in the fields and picking daisies won't get you to pulling the 20th Century Express from New York to Chicago.
I, too, am picking up old volumes of children’s literature at estate sales...I particularly like the Childcraft series. I found a volume made just for boys, containing wild pirate and outdoor adventures...gave it to a great nephew, who practically lives in the outdoors. I am also searching for Hans Christian Anderson and Grimm...again, stories with substance, that speak deeply to the human spirit, and eternal verities we’d prefer to suppress, such as Virtue Triumphs, or Faith and Courage gets us through a dark wood. Now I will have to add Dr Seuss to my list. Gone With The Wind is on TCM this week— I will keep that on my DVR into perpetuity. The backlash will be that half the country retreats totally from our cultural institutions and goes underground. The producers, the innovators will follow, once the idea takes root that Merit and Achievement are racist.
Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture.
The phenomenon of black people in segregated societies wishing they were treated like white people is well-documented. It was in fact the legal basis of Brown v. Board of Education. The authors are supposing that racial segregation is fine and apparently permanent.
And how can you comment on The Sneetches while ignoring the fantastic character of Sylvester McMonkey McBean? If you google "bad guy" and "Sneetches," that's the name that pops up. That's because the Sneetches are misguided and ignorant, but they can learn. McBean is not ignorant, he's the cynical race huckster who uses race for his own profit.
I’m trying to remember the last time the folks who banned books and suppressed free speech were the good guys. Help me out here.
Star Trek fans
Here's a funny picture for "those people"
Perhaps Ms. Downey is an observant Catholic and wishes a return to the teachings of Pope Paul IV with his Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
Placing more value on good intentions than results: Liberalism in a nutshell.
Dust Bunny Queen asked...
Oh for Christ's sake. Will this idiocy ever end?
NO! of Course Not! The Whole Point of Progressivism is TO PROGRESS
ending, stopping, pausing.... NONE of those Move You Forward
Like a Shark; a Progressive MUST move forward, Or Die
When they legalized sodomy, did they Stop? Hell NO! then it was same sex marriage
When they legalized same sex marriage, did they Stop? Hell NO! then it was Trans RIGHTS
When they legalized Trans Rights, did they Stop? Hell NO! then it was incest
Just like their sex crusade, their 'racism' jihad can NEVER stop
If they stopped, for Just One Moment.... People would say: THIS IS CRAZY! I wanna go home!
People like this dower, soulless drone of a women are thoroughly convinced they are good guys, providing light and guidance into the brave new world they are preparing for us.
The time has long past where they need to be fought at every turn if we are to have any chance of preserving a culture and a society with living in.
So drearily earnest...She means well.
She's trying to prove she's not a racist by finding some innocent person who's not suspected of being a racist, and accusing them of racism.
I get it. It's about PAID jobs. Right?
Just dropping by to say the description "drearily earnest" is wonderful.
""drearily earnest or tastelessly thorough" 1905
And these are the people who were saying Trump was a dictator. I don't think they know what the hell they are thinking or talking about. THEY are what THEY despise, and yet they are clueless.
I wonder if the author is just mad because she heard "Oh the places you'll go" read at her graduation and thirty years later looks back on her life and asks, "where did it all go wrong?"
That young man from Madison we were looking at the other day could probably take about 15 minutes of this nice earnest lady max before he overloaded on her irredeemable, unconscious racism. I don't think any of us really know where this is going in the long run, but we all sense that it is no place good.
For anyone.
The damage is inevitable - by now it is only a matter of degree. Gramscian lessons are now teaching the multitudes. They will play out to whatever conclusion they find most satisfying.
We now have a generation of adults raised on books like The Rainbow Fish, about a fish with beautiful rainbow scales who is made to believe that his having these scales somehow oppressed the other fish with ordinary scales and that he must resolve the problem of unearned privilege by tearing out his own scales one-by-one to share with all the other fish in the sea.
"...a National Board Certified teacher"
HA HA HA HA HA! Another award from the Mutual Admiration Society.
THEY are what THEY despise, and yet they are clueless.
"Humans and chimps share a [not] surprising 98.8 percent of their DNA."
Bipedal much?
I don't know how we're supposed to live alongside these sheeple.
All these whites abasing themselves on the altar of "diversity". They should be ashamed of themselves and the world they're building for their posterity but they are too pompous and self-important to acknowledge anything but their own "wokeness". Or maybe its "weakness"...
"...did they Stop? Hell NO!..."
Nuclear, coal, oil, fracking....
Nuclear winter, global warming, climate change....
It never ends on any subject. The original script came from Moscow.
So drearily earnest...
While this woman is part of the mass hysteria, it really has nothing to do with racism, systemic or otherwise. It's just another landmark in the Cultural Revolution that is destroying our nation. And destroying our nation is the goal.
I am also a collector of children's books, mostly "dog" and "horse" books like Albert Payson Terhune and Marguerite Henry, and of course the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (get them soon, she is on the verge of being cancelled). I enjoy re-reading them myself and I hope to share them with my granddaughter some day. I'll probably need to add some Dr Seuss books to my collection. The language is so much fun when you read it aloud.
I saw a tweet somewhere that said something like: “Show me a society where the book burners and censors were the good guys. I’ll wait.” It’s worth thinking about.
As for Dr. Seuss, he did write about eggs of color.That should count for something.
I just can’t understand it. My son and his wife were raised with Dr. Seuss and yet they have spent the past seven years in Africa creating jobs and economic opportunity for Africans, raising money to feed Africans during the pandemic and photographing refugee camps to raise awareness of the plight of some Africans. They love and admire particularly the Acholi people. I know this is anecdotal, but before the pandemic there were many American expats of their age, probably Seussers, engaged in similar activities.
Maybe they’re confused racists who think Africans are white. Or maybe all the alleged “universal” white supremacy, white privilege, systemic racism stuff has more to do with African-Americanism than with color.
If you've never read the dystopian sequel to the Sneetches, Spoiler Alert!
After the guy with the star machine walks away with his pile of cash, the Sneetches invent Critical Belly Theory and the pleasant beach community collapses into a protracted and bloody civil war. Two lovers, one a plain belly, the other with a star, try to escape. Everybody dies in the end.
It's pretty good. Not as good as the first one, though, IMO.
Those other authors don't have the intellectual heft of Dr. Seuss.
It's all a displacement of blacks being, on the average, dumber than whites. It's a way to look someplace else. Someday people will look in the right place and make sensible public policy choices that fit the problem.
I suggest teaching good character instead of the opposite. Good character trumps IQ in leading to success.
New York Post
@nypost
Biden removes mention of Dr. Seuss from 'Read Across America Day'
2:35 AM · Mar 2, 2021
tim in Vermont wrote: “The Democrats are abandoning the high ground on great art....”
Democrats have abandoned the high ground, period! It began with abortion. If you can sanction abortion, you can sanction anything. Sixty-one million dead and counting.
It's all a displacement of blacks being, on the average, dumber than whites.
And the solution is on the horizon, although it isn’t commie bullshit.
Genetic engineering of babies for IQ is coming. Elon Musk’s Neuralink is the other half of the solution.
As usual, liberals think that the solutions are ideological, when in fact they are technological and best solved within the structure of capitalism.
My daughters were readers as young children. My son, not so much. But he loved the Tin Tin books. We have 4 or 5 of them, though the dog loved them too so they are not in pristine condition. Will keep ours when all the rest go into the bonfire of woke. Doubt the French will capitulate, so they should still be available in the native tongue. Might have to learn French to be able to read Nonwoke.
The boy is fine. White, but fine.
I've always hated Dr. Seuss books. I might be the only person who does. They veer into an uber-twee that drives me crazy.
First they came for the Dr. Seuss and I said nothing because I didn't care.
A drearily earnest note: the words you quote were written by guest columnist Charis Granger-Mbugua, not Maureen Downey.
These stupid people have no place in public.
Out with Seuss.
In with Heather Has Two Mommies - and gets plenty of bad memories.
Raise a kid by reading from that godawful list and my guess is they'll never read another book.
Dr. Seuss is a product of its time. There is some racism in there, but the message is distinctly open, accepting, and anti-racist. Geisel was ahead of his time on inclusiveness.
When my daughter was that age, my wife and I would just pause and laugh at the depictions and note for our daughter why something like that wouldn't be ok today. No more is necessary. There's certainly no need to deprive her of some wonderful stories because Geisel wasn't woke enough for today's world.
"Joseph Stalin introduced the concept of self-criticism in his 1924 work The Foundations of Leninism.[4] He would later expand this concept in his 1928 article "Against Vulgarising the Slogan of Self-Criticism".[5] Stalin wrote in 1928[6] "I think, comrades, that self-criticism is as necessary to us as air or water. I think that without it, without self-criticism, our Party could not make any headway, could not disclose our ulcers, could not eliminate our shortcomings. And shortcomings we have in plenty. That must be admitted frankly and honestly."[7]"
wikipedia article on self-criticism.
Someday people will look in the right place and make sensible public policy choices that fit the problem.
Policy choices that address the problem are even better.
As a child, my dad read "McElligot's Pool" to me every night. It was part of my bedtime ritual. He loved to tell his friend's about the time he skipped a page and I, about age 3, instantly corrected him.
Of course, he was not being a loving father passing along his love of reading.
Clearly his intention was to impart White Supremacy and teach me how to oppress The Other.
It wasn't until years later, when I became a police officer, honoring the legacy of slave catchers of years gone by, that I realized how deeply Dr. Suess had ingrained his racism into generations of children.
BOSTON (AP) — Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author’s legacy said Tuesday.
“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the late author and illustrator’s birthday.
“Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” it said.
The other books affected are “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company told AP.
“Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles,” it said.
Good character trumps IQ in leading to success.
No it doesn't.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises just said that they will no longer publish or license 6 Seuss books. They are self-cancelling. Maybe they should poke out their eyes and wear ashen sack cloth so that folks will know that they are truly sorry for the insult of owning the copyrights.
The lefties are nasty little shits.
- Krumhorn
Unknown said...
The best book on race ever written by anyone is Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches, which not only strongly suggests that race is stupid, but also reveals the race hucksters for what they are.
Probably the real reason these scumbags are coming for him.
ST predicts: Genetic engineering of babies for IQ is coming. Elon Musk’s Neuralink is the other half of the solution.
As usual, liberals think that the solutions are ideological, when in fact they are technological and best solved within the structure of capitalism.
Wisdom trumps intelligence any day. A community of uber-intelligent folk without wisdom or, as rhhardin observes, 'character', is more dangerous than a population of morons. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Prov. 1:7
From the article:
"I pulled out the extensive collection of Dr. Seuss books that I have in my home and re-read them with a critical lens... " (emphasis, mine)
It's amazing what you can find out when you peer through a woke critical lens - all those completely invisible (i.e., non-existent) offenses lurking there in the deep background. Suddenly, you can see anything and everything that fits with your grievance-oriented worldview, and you too can be one of the cool whiners about older works in an effort to cancel anything that was not formulated in the last 2 years.
Dr. Seuss books will no longer have a place in my home.
"She means well."
Not so sure that her ambitions for control are so limited to "home," more like "hearth."
You'll think you got fucked by a train. And the library? Gone! Sealed off brick by brick! We'll have us a little book-barbecue in the yard. They'll see the flames for miles. We'll dance around it like wild Injuns. Do you understand me? Are you catching my drift? Or am I being obtuse?
Ahem, that's "indigenous peoples."
Progressives - in particular, the so-called “anti racist” left - are poison. Period, full stop.
If "the themes of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism are garishly prevalent," how come she only just noticed them? How can she have been "ignorant" Of them for years? Why did she have to be "educated" to discover them?
And if it's that easy to overlook them, why can't we just assume kids will overlook them?
I don't remember much about Bradbury's Farenheit 451 but seems like 'burning books' is much easier today and with no carbon emissions.
Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday.
The other books affected are “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company told AP.
Every day the hate for Progressivism grows more and more. Love Progressive Hate??? I think not.
"She means well."
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
I don't know where I read it (if it was here, I apologize for the repeat), but regarding the Road to Hell, when you've reached the point where you can see smoke and fire, your intentions are suspect.
Ann Althouse said...That book is singled out for critique at the second link:
"The Sneetches is often used to teach concepts of anti-racism and discrimination to young children and is promoted on several social-justice platforms. The oppressed group (Plain-belly Sneetches) are portrayed as moping in their sadness...
That is an observation I often make about The Sneetches (often, that is, when it comes up). The star-bellied sneetches really are the best sneetches on the beaches. While the star-bellied sneeches spend all their time having fun, the plain bellied sneetches sit around feeling bad that they don't get invited to star-bellied parties. They're not oppressed, they're just boring, self-pitying mopes. Nobody's stopping them from throwing their own parties. They just don't.
Those books are all terrible. At least talk about Mo Willems if you're looking for a Suess alternative. He doesn't count I'm guessing. White male.
“Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles,” it said.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises wants to be eaten last. I'm sure it'll all turn out fine for them.
I look at the suggested reading list from the article. Here are my comments on a few of the titles over there:
I Like Myself! (positive self-image is good, but the over-emphasis has led to the Snowflake generation)
I Am Enough (see above)
I Believe I Can (shades of an Obama campaign slogan)
A is for Activist (yea, what we need is little children all making demands to their desires)
Let’s Talk About Race (second title: “I’ll do the talking, you shut up and listen”)
Black is a Rainbow Color (technically, it’s not [for that matter, neither is white], but go ahead and bend facts to fit your narrative)
Separate is Never Equal (uh-oh – ask certain POC university students wanting separate dorms, study locations, etc. This one just might get you cancelled… )
Jesus. What a mess the left has made of this country.
And all by design.
Everything according to plan.
Alles in Ordnung.
@Barry Sanders
My teenage daughter asked for Tin Tin books for her birthday next week. She knows what time it is.
"green eggs and ham" --> "Eggs of color and flesh of pig."
White liberal 'racism' zealots are not unlike the Spanish Inquisition and other heresy zealots of history. They are dangerous and 'no one expects' them.
Historically, banning books is what the Bad Guys do.
But they meant well.
"Dr. Seuss Enterprises just said that they will no longer publish or license 6 Seuss books."
Again, patents protect for 20 years, copyright for 100. They can't get away with this stuff if the copyright period is reduced to match the patent period.
No Theodor Geisel anymore, but need an edge? Fine. All Roald Dahl, all the time it is, then.
Is it just me who is beginning to think that between pandemic remote learning and this sort of shit unleashing a sociopathic Clockwork Orange generation may be just the sort of cleansing fire the forest needs to reestablish a healthy ecology?
Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” — will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy said Tuesday.
The other books affected are “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
I can see "Zoo", though of course I would not cancel it. But what the heck do they find wrong with McElligot, Zebra & Scramble?
Oh the Places Woke People Will Go
Something I saw on Twitter a couple of days ago that is appropriate:
"Name one time in human history when the group fighting to ban books and censor speech were the good guys."
That is all...
Factoid:
Dr. Seuss would meet Raymond Chandler for drinking sessions at local watering holes.
Learn to read with the Doc and then enjoy Ray's books and short stories.
Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture. Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor
We have fallen back to lumping individuals into communities because it’s easier for outsiders to deal with them.
Now that’s Progressive!
"Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture."
What bullshit. In this country those 'communities' (I HATE that fucking term) are minorities.
The majority culture is an American culture, responsible for the greatest creation of wealth and standard of living in the history of the world.
That's that culture to which you owe allegiance.
The mentality described in the quote amounts to 'separate but equal,' forever pigeonholing yourself as 'other.'
Seems to me they are oppressing themselves...
Oh The Places You Will Go----and while you are doing it, hold the hands of these Anti Seussers and walk off the end of a deepwater pier.
The is precious little good news these days, and less hope than usual. I console myself with the knowledge that these insane, self-loathing idiots will all suffer the consequences of their folly in time. The Revolution eats its own, every single time.
It's just a shame that normal people have to be along for the ride.
I don't suppose Little Black Sambo is on the approved list.
I was stunned to find an operating Sambo's restaurant in Lincoln City, Oregon. I think it's the last one.
"Who would imagine that you have to buy Dr. Seuss now, before they censor it? The lists are getting bigger and bigger all the time."
Maybe it's best to buy actual, physical books and media (DVDs, etc.).
But you'd better find a safe, secret place to hide them for when the State comes looking.
"Cancel Fahrenheit 451."
Burn every fucking copy. It's only appropriate.
And slo Joe and Dr Jill like banning also:
"Biden Drops Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day"
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2021/03/02/biden-drops-dr-seuss-from-read-across-america-day/
"Gone With The Wind is on TCM this week— I will keep that on my DVR into perpetuity."
As an addendum to my above comment, that will only work if you own the hard drive.
If it's owned by the cable/satellite company, those recordings usually 'roll off' and get automatically deleted after a year or so.
Best to buy the DVD and rip it to your own hard drive, keeping the disc as backup.
Start your collection before they all disappear.
"Dr. Seuss Is Canceled: Six Books Will Stop Being Published Because of ‘Racist and Insensitive Imagery"
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/03/02/dr-seuss-is-canceled-six-books-will-stop-being-published-because-of-racist-and-insensitive-imagery/
I seem to recall that before he became a doctor he worked for the govt doing anti-german (and anti-japanese?) propaganda art.
I remember it as being some pretty grossly stereotypical stuff. Specifically designed to stir up racial/ethnic hatred.
Who's next? Spike Jones? The whole band salutes and seig Heil right in "der fuhrer's face"
Video may save them since instead of having the whole palm facing outwards, only the middle finger is.
John Henry
If you want to replace Dr. Seuss, the first thing you'll need some exciting, inventive drawing! And you've got to have a little edge to the story. It can't be just love is important and nice people are nice.
Is there something in the history of Socialist Realism that would ever make you think that aesthetic considerations are paramount?
Out: "Ars gratia artis is bourgeois!"
In: "Ars gratia artis is racist!"
This latest round of book banning sounds like a bunch of middle aged, middle class white women being offended on behalf of somebody else.
@DanTheMan,
This latest round of book banning sounds like a bunch of middle aged, middle class white women being offended on behalf of somebody else.
Sadly, it seems that the "Biddy" is an eternal feminine archetype.
"Biden Drops Dr. Seuss from Read Across America Day"
But he still has his nightly appointment with The Sleep Book.
Leftists ruin everything.
They literally are fascists.
Great! Now do "Make Way for Ducklings" and "Goodnight, Moon."
This reminds me of the confession of ones crimes in 1984.
Why are these folks so squeamish? Why can't they just openly admit they are fascists. In every historical sense of the word.
What are they ashamed of?
We have a few squeamish fascists right her in the Althouse commenters. I've called them out many times over the years and will continue to do so as appropriate.
But they get all mealy mouthed and Peter out. "Me? A fascist? Oh no, not me."
John Henry
Thing one and Thing two, obviously people that don’t look like us have to be de-humanized into non-human “things”
Asshole...
Mr. Brown is out of town? Hmmm
Mr. Brown came back with Mr. Black?
OMG IS IT SOME KIND OF GANG?
Ben Shapiro
@benshapiro
The good news: in short order, we'll no longer need to worry about our failing educational system because books are racist and math is racist and everything is racist.
9:44 AM · Mar 2, 2021
Mandrewa: "Not that these books were political. But they don't have woke messages. And that is enough to make them political."
Exactly.
Ben Shapiro
@benshapiro
My favorite part of this entire cultural implosion is the morons now proclaiming that their political enemies are fascists, and also meanwhile, why are you so concerned about digital book burnings and erasure of math in the name of equity?
9:46 AM · Mar 2, 2021
Ben Shapiro
@benshapiro
Replying to @benshapiro
The emotional instability of a few is not a reason for our entire society to overthrow a culture that values freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and individual responsibility. Anyone who surrenders to our cultural authoritarians is a damned coward.
9:49 AM · Mar 2, 2021
She means well
Bless her heart
My teenage daughter asked for Tin Tin books
That newspaper was Le Soir, a French-language publication that kept publishing under Nazi occupation when many others did not. During that period, writes Bruce Handy for The New York Times, Hergé began work on a new Tintin story titled “The Shooting Star.” In this story, he writes, “Tintin faces off against Blumenstein, a greedy, hook-nosed Jewish-American financier. In later years, an apologetic but defensive Hergé—he would tone down Blumenstein’s nose in postwar editions and change his name to Bohlwinkel—shrugged off accusations of anti-Semitism,” he writes. The cartoonist’s excuses included saying “That was the style then,” Handy writes.
Bohlwinkel? Where have I heard that name before?
There is this strange idea that what you "learn" as a child becomes your indelible adult destiny. No one's mind evolves over time (except, luckily, the minds of the lucky "woke").
A great way to disillusion an older child about his upbringing is to bring the child up on falsehoods. When their experience betrays those falsehoods, they may become cynical about their earlier "teachers".
Samuel Clemens, born in Missouri, started out racist and ended up in a very different place. So did Theodore Geisel. So did my racist Southern father.
So did Maureen Downey. She got stupider.
I loved reading Dr. Seuss books when I was a kid. I remember them being so creative and interesting and fun. I don't remember feeling there was anything racist about them whatsoever.
The childrens book in the article below bothers me more than any Seuss book, but because I am a Conservative, I would NEVER try to get it banned. That is the difference between freedom and force. Let kids be kids, and stop forcing sex on them.....https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2021/03/02/watch-woman-makes-little-boy-read-the-gaybcs-a-childrens-book-that-teaches-about-terms-like-coming-out-trans-queer-n335738
People of white (POW). That said, from "colored people" (i.e. low information attribute) to "people of color" (i.e. color blocs, identity defined by skin color). Diversity [dogma], not limited to racism, breeds adversity. Progress: one step forward, two steps backward.
Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor
Really?
If you want to replace Dr. Seuss, the first thing you'll need some exciting, inventive drawing! And you've got to have a little edge to the story.
Sounds like an opening for Althouse’s rats!
The mentality described in the quote amounts to 'separate but equal,' forever pigeonholing yourself as 'other.'
Seems to me they are oppressing themselves...
African-American, Fetal-American, past, present, and progressive.
Anyone who reads the "stars on thars" story, and still contends that Dr Seuss is a racist, is a lying sack of garbage.
Ann Althouse said...
"The best book on race ever written by anyone is Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches, which not only strongly suggests that race is stupid, but also reveals the race hucksters for what they are."
That book is singled out for critique at the second link:
by an America hating, assimilation hating, worthless pile of garbage.
The book is hated by race hustlers, of which the author of the second link is one.
Of course, if you DO "demand to be different", then you can't complain when you're treated differently. You also can't complain when your "differentness" leads to inferior outcomes. Because you chose that failure route, all by yourself.
Jill is a Doctor too, can she rhyme?
Imagine a boot, stomping on a human face, forever.
The Cat in Hat will be appropriated and evolve as The Pussyhat.
Similarly, there will be no more parades of lions, lionesses, and their burdens... cubs.
"The tell-tale hearts beat ever louder" is deplorable in its anti-reproductive rites and anti-#CecileTheCannibal metaphorical intent.
That said, diversity [dogma], not limited to racism, breeds adversity.
Diversity of individuals, minority of one. #HateLovesAbortion
Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor
That's not what history shows.
Samuel Clemens, born in Missouri, started out racist and ended up in a very different place.
Woodie Guthrie (commie) was a stone cold racist when he started out. Jack London (socialist) was to the end.
Oppression is just like slavery. No one really opposed it, they just didn't want to be personally involved on the shitty end. That is, until a bunch of dead White men changed everyone's mind.
Just more proof that the liberal bourgeoise are worthless in stopping the extreme Left. Look for the Left to continue to be more and more crazy and repressive and the liberals to do a 'tut-tutting' but basically going along with it.
BTW, Dr Seuss was a communist. He put in all these "characters of Color" because it was diversity 1940s and 1950s style. That his books are now being attacked by the left is hilarious. If he gets banned....well, Trotsky meet Mr. Stalin.
Wow, how tiresome.
While I have no great love for Dr. Seuss books (didn't read them as a kid) the whole pearl-clutching/hand-wringing act from these women is long past its sell-by date. I'm thinking we really do need a SMOD event just to really give these folks something to do with themselves.
She means well.
No she doesn't.
No, she doesn't mean well. She means to eliminate something children love. Yes, there are stereotypical Chinese, but then the Cat himself (gender binary???) is not much like a real cat, is he?
She means to limit children's vision to the woke present. people like here have already eliminated most fairy tales and legends from the further past; now we have to erase the recent past--especially the recent past that was prized and loved.
Wondering if I am about to be canceled by my woke law professor son and even worker law professor daughter-in-law after giving not only multiple Dr. Seuss books to my 2 year old granddaughter for Christmas but also a 5 foot tall Cat in the Hat stuffed toy.
What was I thinking!
"She means well"
Objection, your honor! Citing facts not in evidence!
Seriously, she does not mean well in fact. Regardless of what she says or thinks, what she's actually doing is helping to tear apart our society, one kids-book-sized brick at a time.
It will be interesting to see if Amazon will retroactively remove banned books from our kindles. I have kicked myself black and blue for giving away most of my hard-copy books when I downsized.
Again, from Big Brother: “HE WHO CONTROLS THE PAST CONTROLS THE FUTURE; HE WHO CONTROLS THE PRESENT CONTROLS THE PAST”
And I hope everyone keeps several hard-copies of the Bible. That will be banned for sure.
"But now that I am better informed, I am committed to advocating for change. Because when we know better, we should do better."
Did Downey write that or are those the words of the guest columnist, Charis Granger-Mbugua?
The indentation indicates that it is a part of the guest column.
All four of my black/white/Korean/Filipino grandkids read Seuss when they were kids and not one of them is a racist.
...re-read them with a critical lens only to find that the themes of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism are garishly prevalent
Critical Theories require the adherent/supplicant/proselyte to find something that needs "critiquing". It's how one worships the Woke gods.
"Dr. Seuss books will no longer have a place in my home."
That's so awesome.
Burn 'em! Burn 'em all!
Dance around the fire in a Cat-in-the-Hat hat!
Child 3 gave my wife a book with Geisel's art. Some of it can be seen here Dr Suess Art
Racist-seekers will be disappointed, but the women who seek to be offended might find it in the Booby Trap
But be careful! It's a booby trap!
I've never been upset with Dr. Seuss.
To paraphrase Lavrenti Beria: "Give me the book, I'll find the offense!"
Problems like these continue to metastasize because half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
tim in vermont said...
"The Democrats are abandoning the high ground on great art."
Except for the fact, I KNOW you guys are retarded, I don't know how they HAVE the high ground - on anything. Bill Clinton is still a rapist, right? MSNBC, Christopher Hitchens, and Ronin Farrow said so? Hillary still had Kathleen Wiley's dog killed - still launched the Russia Hoax? Still brought slavery back to Libya? Harvey Milk's legacy is still based on a lie?
How do you lose against THAT?
You've simply GOT to be retarded.
Inspiration travels in a wave. An author is illuminated at times and mundane at other times.
Dr. Seuss was an agent of tolerance in my life from an early age. He made me think about morals as a child.
I’m so glad I saved all my children’s Dr. Seuss books and have given them to my grandchildren.
One of my loves is old children’s books. Over the years I’ve collected a goodly number and have given many to my daughters for my grandchildren. They’re taught to treasure the vintage books and treat them gently.
mockturtle said...
It will be interesting to see if Amazon will retroactively remove banned books from our kindles.
The Kindle app on your computer will tell you where it stores your files. If not, Duck Duck Go will.
Zip up backups of that folder on a regular basis
DDG will also tell you how to remove the DRM from the field, so you can read them outside of the Kindle app.
Thx, Greg.
“I particularly like the Childcraft series. I found a volume made just for boys, containing wild pirate and outdoor adventures...gave it to a great nephew, who practically lives in the outdoors.”
I still have an entire set of the Childcraft series. My favorites children’s book author/illustrators are Maude and Misha Petersham.
I figured you read Mein Kampf to your children and grandchildren, Inga.
I was pointing out to my Mom (who is a soft-core Leftist) that the urge to censor is something that seems to be built-in to human nature, and has always been with us. I pointed out that it was the Hard Right in the 50s and 60s who were making all the noise about banning / burning books because of their "racy" and "satanic" content. She was onboard with everything I was saying.
Then I pointed out that it's the Left that wants to ban Huck Finn and Dr. Seuss today. Not the Right. The Woke Left are the new authoritarians. She started to squawk at me ... then she thought about it ... and then there was silence. Even SHE realizes that the Left has turned into authoritarian scolds, intent on censoring books.
"There's more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people with lit matches." -- Ray Bradbury
Another one of my favorite children’s book author/illustrators, Elizabeth Enright, niece of Frank Lloyd Wright and Maginal Wright Enright, younger sister of FLW and mother to Elizabeth Enright. Lots of talent in that family.
But he was a left-wing racist.
Doesn't that count for anything?
They must be mad about his WWII writing.
You know, books like Horton Kills a Jap.
Finding racism today is the equivalent of finding satanism in records during the 80s. The demand exceeds the supply.
"You've simply GOT to be retarded."
Republicans are, indeed, the stupid party.
But ever-increasingly they've become the gutless party as well.
A terrible combination.
First, they came for the babies... Fetal-Americans, citing the social cost of carbon-based life, and redistributive change (i.e. clinical cannibalism). Then, they came for the books, citing the social cost of carbon and desirable diversity (i.e. color judgment). The progression is clear and liberalizing.
Pro-diversity "Sneetches" isn't antiracist, according to Teaching Tolerance. http://bit.ly/3sFcDlW
"The solution to the story’s conflict is that the Plain-Belly Sneetches and Star-Bellied Sneetches simply get confused as to who is oppressed. As a result, they accept one another. This message of “acceptance” does not acknowledge structural power imbalances. It doesn’t address the idea that historical narratives impact present-day power structures. And instead of encouraging young readers to recognize and take action against injustice, the story promotes a race-neutral approach."
I was laughing at the satire, before I remembered it wasn't a satire site. These people are serious.
Joanne, that kind of mindset is now firmly entrenched in the schools. Those who care about their children should get their kids out NOW, no matter what color they are. The real goal is to divide us by setting races against each other. I pray the churches will take up the mantle of education to replace this vile and dangerous system.
I wonder where the people who want to ban Seuss stand on Piss Christ. It's interesting to find out exactly which sorts of offensives are and aren't allowed.
Ha ha Maureen Downey. I live here and didn’t know she was still alive. Boy is she dumb huh?
Read your children or Grandchildren Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. It’s about not letting people (or animals in this case) take advantage of you. A few years ago my niece was in her fifth grade production of Seussical. It was adorable with some catchy songs and a great message. I suppose we won’t be seeing many more school productions of it. It’s a shame. Let’s hope the generation being raised by these idiots will go in the opposite direction when they grow up.
Inga: "One of my loves is old children’s books."
You can help me. I remember reading my kids a book with a hole in it. It was about the travels of a bullet. Didn't hit anyone - just went through things.
Kamala Harris
@KamalaHarris
United States government official
· Mar 2, 2017
Happy birthday, #DrSeuss! “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
"ST predicts: Genetic engineering of babies for IQ is coming. Elon Musk’s Neuralink is the other half of the solution."
The Maureen Downeys of the world will have their fetuses dumbed down to prove their non supremacy.
"Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture. Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor”
You mean, like Trump voters?
So now they've come for Dr. Seuss. What will be left when the woke run the US in a generation or two? Loudoun County started it. That place is nothing but server farms, latte libs, bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue NoVA, and Middleburg horse country with its wine (or is is whine?) festivals.
The rewrite of society marches on. Winston Smith smiles...
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