Dr. Seuss did not get canceled. But if you think he did, you have a bigger problem. Opinion

[Quixote1818]

So much that’s alleged about what’s been “canceled” or “banned” is either heavily exaggerated or outright untrue.

by Stephen Silver, For The Inquirer
Published Mar 3, 2021
Two things happened to me on Tuesday morning, within a few minutes of each other.

First, I saw on the news and social media that “Dr. Seuss has been canceled.” Then, on my third-grade son’s virtual schooling, the teacher informed the class that it was Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and that the kids would all be writing letters that day celebrating what Dr. Seuss’ work had meant to them.

Whatever “cancellation” the late children’s author has suffered, it’s clearly been somewhat less than universal.

This is just another example of something that’s happened over and over again in the “cancel culture” debates of recent times: So much that’s alleged about what’s been “canceled” or “banned” is either heavily exaggerated or outright untrue.

Here’s what actually happened with Dr. Seuss: Last week, a single school district in Virginia announced not that they were “banning” the author’s books, but rather that were “de-emphasizing” them on “Read Across America Day,” an annual occasion that’s long been timed to Seuss’ birthday. The Loudon County schools, however, did not remove Dr. Seuss’ books from their libraries.

Then, on Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, a business controlled by the author’s estate, announced that it had made the decision last year to take six of Dr. Seuss’ books — “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 — out of print. The stated reason was that “these books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” This includes several instances of what today would be considered racist imagery.

We can debate whether doing this was the right thing, but it’s important to point out a few things. The decision was made by the company that owns and controls the books, not by the government, or by a “mob” that pressured them.

More: https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/dr-seuss-racist-books-cancel-culture-misinformation-20210303.html?fbclid=IwAR1Bf-hLXxHvSj8HQE3ewrtPbWeNEtJXcURee2TBdWYNwtR6cxCnar4WHZE

[dweller]

1. oh ... they were taken out of print

last year ... when fatnixon was in office ... of course

✌🏻

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. The decision was made last year is what it says.

What's unfortunate about the one book I recall from my childhood from this list, McElligotts Pool ... was, I believe, actually intended to promote diversity, inclusion, racial understanding, etc. It was also meant to touch on the matter of the interconnected nature of the world in general.

Seems like they could just re-do and/or omit some of the drawings, change a few words here or there (it may say 'orientals' and 'siamese' and things of that nature, I forget) and it would be okay.

I may be misremembering it though.

[d_r]

3. I also

Remember mcgilligots pool fondly.

[mnmoderatedem]

4. wouldn't it be something if

republicans showed half the outrage over thugs overrunning our nation's Capitol and trying to overturn the results of the election and force autocracy than they do Dr Suess.

[Quixote1818]

5. Well said. nt

[FSogol]

6. There you go again! Using facts and commonsense to counter act the right's culture wars.

And to the right, run out and buy as many children's books as you can! That will show everyone.

[Azathoth]

7. Mostly true, except for this part

by a “mob” that pressured them

This is deceptive and not entirely honest. As we know from 1984, one of the hallmarks of a matured repressive regime is that its subjects aggressively and preemptively self-censor. Thought blocking becomes ingrained as a natural instinct.

I'm *not* saying we live in1984. But I *am* saying that once cancel culture reaches a certain point, people begin preemptively self-canceling in an attempt to head off more severe cancelling later on. Dr. Seuss's books have been around for a long time, and the company that owns them did not feel then need to begin pulling them from circulation until we reached a point in time where rampaging twitter cancel mobs can unexpectedly spring up overnight through the instigation of small but vocal groups of activists and in response to small, random events. Gina Carano reposted a stupid "woe is me, they're treating Republicans like Nazis treated Jews" meme and days later lost her job because twitter mobs decided she was a Nazi-sympathizing antisemite.

It's not unreasonable to think that once the Seuss company saw a school board label his books problematic, they rushed to self-cancel before #cancelseuss started trending on twitter and the entire Seuss brand got problematized.