The Left Is Cancelling Dr Seuss

[BFritz21]

This is getting ridiculous.

Six Dr Seuss books won't be published for "racist images."



Democrats continue to destroy pieces of our culture, and pieces of a lot of our childhoods, over stupid things just so they can play the oppressed card.

Quote:In “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” an Asian person is portrayed wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks, and eating from a bowl. “If I Ran the Zoo” includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads.

Books by Dr. Seuss — born Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Massachusetts, on March 2, 1904 —- have been translated into dozens of languages as well as in braille and are sold in more than 100 countries. He died in 1991.

He remains popular, earning an estimated $33 million before taxes in 2020, up from just $9.5 million five years ago, the company said. Forbes listed him No. 2 on its highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020, behind only the late pop star Michael Jackson. Within hours of Tuesday’s announcement, Dr. Seuss books filled more than half of the top 20 slots on Amazon.com’s bestseller list. “Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo” were on the list, along with “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”, “Green Eggs and Ham” and others still being published.

Random House Children Books, Dr. Seuss’ publisher, issued a brief statement Tuesday: “We respect the decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises (DSE) and the work of the panel that reviewed this content last year, and their recommendation.”

Dr. Seuss is adored by millions around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance, but criticism has grown in recent years over the way Blacks, Asians and others are drawn in some of his most beloved children’s books, as well as in his earlier advertising and propaganda illustrations.

The National Education Association, which founded Read Across America Day in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with Geisel’s birthday, has for several years deemphasized Seuss and encouraged a more diverse reading list for children.

School districts across the country have also moved away from Dr. Seuss, prompting Loudoun County, Virginia, schools just outside Washington, D.C., to douse rumors last month that they were banning the books entirely.

There's more in the article, but can someone please explain this to me? Can someone please justify how the left is ruining everything?

Do Dems just wake up in the morning and think "what can I be offended about today?"

I gotta wonder if any of the groups that this is "offending" are actually offended by it.

Thoughts?

[Au165]

(03-02-2021, 10:47 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: This is getting ridiculous.

Six Dr Seuss books won't be published for "racist images."



Democrats continue to destroy pieces of our culture, and pieces of a lot of our childhoods, over stupid things just so they can play the oppressed card.


There's more in the article, but can someone please explain this to me? Can someone please justify how the left is ruining everything?

Do Dems just wake up in the morning and think "what can I be offended about today?"

I gotta wonder if any of the groups that this is "offending" are actually offended by it.

Thoughts?

You are offended that people are offended.

[BFritz21]

(03-02-2021, 10:50 PM)Au165 Wrote: You are offended that people are offended.

Not offended but pissed off that our country is so soft and is ruining everything that made our country great.

[GMDino]

Not even close.

National Reading Month kicked off on his birthday so he got the bilk of the attention.  This year Biden suggested OTHER authors to shake things up.  Meanwhile the organization responsible for Seuss' books announced THEY were not reprinting six of them due to racial imagery.

The "left" didn't cancel anything.  People looked and realized there was stuff in there that we can probably all live without seeing anymore.

But people sure did get offended by it.  But I guess they needed *something* after fighting about a plastic potato.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/03/01/read-across-america-day-dr-seuss-diversity-racism/6878454002/

Quote:Monday marks the start of National Reading Month – with celebrations across the nation planned for Read Across America Day on Tuesday.


The day will look a little different this year as many students learn virtually amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the National Education Association has planned a variety of virtual events – not just in March but all year – to mark the occasion.


That's not the only difference: The NEA has pivoted from popular children's author Dr. Seuss to a focus on diverse children's books, a decision that has generated controversy on social media. 


While President Joe Biden noted in his Read Across America Day presidential proclamation that “for many Americans, the path to literacy begins with story time in their school classroom” – and that the day was an important recommitment to the goal of national reading comprehension – he differed from Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama in leaving out Dr. Seuss's name.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it would stop printing six books because of racist and insensitive imagery. 


Here's what to know about the annual reading celebration and the controversy surrounding it:    
 
What is Read Across America Day?
Launched in 1998 by the NEA, Read Across America Day was created as a way to encourage children to read. It later developed into a year-round program, with special celebrations in March.

"This year-round program focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships, and reading resources that are about everyone, for everyone," the NEA website for the program says.


How is the day tied to Dr. Seuss?
Since its conception, the annual reading day has been held on or near March 2, which is Dr. Seuss's birthday. This year, it will be held on his 117th birthday.  And for many Americans, Read Across America Day is celebrated alongside his birthday.


Until 2018, when its contract ended, the NEA had partnered with Dr. Seuss Enterprises. 


“One of the reasons we partnered with Seuss 20 years ago in 1997 was to kick-start this program,” NEA spokesman Steven Grant told the School Library Journal in 2017. “That was the strategy up front, so kids would see Dr. Seuss’s 'Cat in the Hat' and spark some attention.” 


50 Black YA authors you should read, from Angie Thomas to Walter Dean Myers


Why has Dr. Seuss become controversial?
Over the past few years, however, the day's focus has shifted from the author because of new attention toward inclusivity in children's literature and a confrontation with racist undertones in Seuss's body of work. 
A 2019 study from the Conscious Kid's Library and the University of California-San Diego researchers studied 50 children’s books and more than 2,200 characters created over decades by the children's author.


What it found: “Of the 2,240 (identified) human characters, there are forty-five characters of color representing 2% of the total number of human characters.” And of that fraction, 43 have Orientalist depictions, and two align with the theme of anti-Blackness, the study found.


"Notably, every character of color is male. Males of color are only presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles," the study authors, Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens, wrote. "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."


Are schools really banning Dr. Seuss books?
In the last week, false reports surfaced that Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia had banned the books of Dr. Seuss.


The school district quickly released a statement to clarify, writing that given the 2019 study and the district's "focus on equity and culturally responsive instruction," it released guidance to schools "during the past couple of years" to not connect Read Across America Day exclusively with Dr. Seuss’ birthday. His books, however, are still available to readers in district libraries.


Read Across America has had the same guidance since 2017.


“It's not about reading or not reading certain books, it’s about raising awareness around the social and systemic bias that such books promote,” Stephens said in 2017. “Dr. Seuss and whiteness is a reflection of the overwhelming silence in literacy regarding matters of race, especially with both young people and white people.”
 
What books promoting diversity are recommended by NEA?
The NEA has a list of recommended reading for the year, which caters to a diversity of readers, on its website.


The March recommendations:  "Tiara’s Hat Parade" by Kelly Starling Lyons; "Each Tiny Spark" by Pablo Cartaya; and "They Called Us Enemy" by George Takei, Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott.

[/url]6 Dr. Seuss books no longer being published 
Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the business that preserves and protects the author's legacy, said Tuesday[url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/03/02/dr-seuss-books-racist-imagery-stop-being-published/6883105002/] that it would stop publishing six books because of racist and insensitive imagery. 


The books are: “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,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press in a statement that coincided with the 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."


Contributing: The Associated Press 

[BFritz21]

(03-02-2021, 11:12 PM)GMDino Wrote: Not even close.

National Reading Month kicked off on his birthday so he got the bilk of the attention.  This year Biden suggested OTHER authors to shake things up.  Meanwhile the organization responsible for Seuss' books announced THEY were not reprinting six of them due to racial imagery.

The "left" didn't cancel anything.  People looked and realized there was stuff in there that we can probably all live without seeing anymore.

But people sure did get offended by it.  But I guess they needed *something* after fighting about a plastic potato.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2021/03/01/read-across-america-day-dr-seuss-diversity-racism/6878454002/

Your link just basically agreed with what I posted about the left cancelling Dr Seuss, which even you agreed with, you're just wording it different.

How was that "not even close"?  The left is cancelling books by Dr Seuss because they've become the culture that wakes up with the goal to find things to be offended by.

[Benton]

Quote: 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.

...

The decision to cease publication and sales of the books was made last year after months of discussion, the company, which was founded by Seuss’ family, told AP.

https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed18335c03319d72f443594c174513

Where da left?

I mean, seriously, this is a private entity profiting from those stories opting not to print some. That's a far right move. Meanwhile, far lefties in public education are passing out Dr. Seuss books on Read Across America day like it's Fahrenheit 451 Day.

Do you want radical liberals deciding who gets to read what (which would be more Seuss) or do you want to support capitalist enterprises making those decisions (which means allowing private businesses and entities to silence Seuss)?

[Benton]

(03-02-2021, 11:33 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Your link just basically agreed with what I posted about the left cancelling Dr Seuss, which even you agreed with, you're just wording it different.

How was that "not even close"?  The left is cancelling books by Dr Seuss because they've become the culture that wakes up with the goal to find things to be offended by.

The left, in this instance, is a business created by Seuss's family to manage the works. That's not the left, Brad. That's a business.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

Anything written more than a few decades ago (or less) runs the risk of being "problematic" by today's standards. The works discussed certainly display stereotypical images, but, as always, I think intent is important. I don't think one can infer that Dr. Seuss was trying to offend.


I can see where people would be bothered by this though, Dr. Seuss was a huge part of my childhood and having his works labeled in this manner isn't exactly pleasant.

[Au165]

(03-02-2021, 11:54 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Anything written more than a few decades ago (or less) runs the risk of being "problematic" by today's standards. The works discussed certainly display stereotypical images, but, as always, I think intent is important. I don't think one can infer that Dr. Seuss was trying to offend.


I can see where people would be bothered by this though, Dr. Seuss was a huge part of my childhood and having his works labeled in this manner isn't exactly pleasant.

Some of the cartoons he did during WW2 were pretty bad. He later regretted it, and the war played a role as it was propaganda in terms of depictions of the Japanese, however, some of those undertones hung around a little longer than they probably should have in later works of his.

All that said, it is tough as you pointed out looking at how things age as “off color” becomes offensive. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t always offensive, but I think things just get more attention now and it snowballs past what is probably a called for amount of offense to be taken.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(03-02-2021, 11:59 PM)Au165 Wrote: Some of the cartoons he did during WW2 were pretty bad. He later regretted it but it kind of keeps in line with some of these issues from his earlier works that are getting a second look now in terms of racially stereotypes depictions.

Oh, to be sure.  I'm aware of those and he acknowledged well before his death that those were racist.  None of those are represented in this current "banning" though.

[Au165]

(03-03-2021, 12:02 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Oh, to be sure.  I'm aware of those and he acknowledged well before his death that those were racist.  None of those are represented in this current "banning" though.

The “chinaman” line eye depreciations I believe is one of those that are “banned”.

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(03-03-2021, 12:06 AM)Au165 Wrote: The “chinaman” line eye depreciations I believe is one of those that are “banned”.

Yeah, I think that's the "zoo" book.  I'd be fine with just altering the image.

[BFritz21]

(03-02-2021, 11:35 PM)Benton Wrote: https://apnews.com/article/dr-seuss-books-racist-images-d8ed18335c03319d72f443594c174513

Where da left?

I mean, seriously, this is a private entity profiting from those stories opting not to print some. That's a far right move. Meanwhile, far lefties in public education are passing out Dr. Seuss books on Read Across America day like it's Fahrenheit 451 Day.

Do you want radical liberals deciding who gets to read what (which would be more Seuss) or do you want to support capitalist enterprises  making those decisions (which means allowing private businesses and entities to silence Seuss)?

They're cancelling because the left is bitching, like they always do, and they realize that eventually the left would call for a boycott and it they'd lose money/it's not worth the hassle.

That's where da left be.

[Benton]

(03-03-2021, 12:12 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: They're cancelling because the left is bitching, like they always do, and they realize that eventually the left would call for a boycott and it they'd lose money/it's not worth the hassle.

That's where da left be.

Where? 
Where was the outcry?
Where were leftists saying "Do not try?"


Where?
Where was the boycott?
Was it under the tree? Under a tater tot?

Maybe there wasn't a crusade.
Maybe someone wants to get paid.
Maybe the books are keeping up with time.
Maybe they took the predisposition for fearmongering from a political entity which can't help itself as a sign.



Sorry... that last one got wordy.

[KillerGoose]

There is absolutely nothing in that article, or any other article, to suggest that the left is doing any of this. The decision was made by the business themselves after hearing feedback from teachers, academics and specialists. We know nothing about their political affiliations. You assuming the political affiliation of these people is just silly. You’re making yourself mad, really.

There is no evidence for what you’re saying.

[BFritz21]

(03-03-2021, 12:35 AM)Benton Wrote: Where? 
Where was the outcry?
Where were leftists saying "Do not try?"


Where?
Where was the boycott?
Was it under the tree? Under a tater tot?

Maybe there wasn't a crusade.
Maybe someone wants to get paid.
Maybe the books are keeping up with time.
Maybe they took the predisposition for fearmongering from a political entity which can't help itself as a sign.



Sorry... that last one got wordy.

Quote:“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.

They obviously looked for feedback because there had to be people mad about it, which is made evident here:

Quote:Still, many educators have slowly moved away from including Geisel's books in curriculum.

There was the outcry,
You cannot outsmart me, 
So do not try

Like they always do, 
The left is crying again, 
If, is never the question, 
But rather when.

Our country was made great by those who were brave,
But now Dems get offended at every little thing, 
And you can take that to the grave.

[BFritz21]

(03-03-2021, 12:51 AM)KillerGoose Wrote: There is absolutely nothing in that article, or any other article, to suggest that the left is doing any of this. The decision was made by the business themselves after hearing feedback from teachers, academics and specialists. We know nothing about their political affiliations. You assuming the political affiliation of these people is just silly. You’re making yourself mad, really.

There is no evidence for what you’re saying.

Given how the left is offended by everything else in the world, you don't think that this was driven by them?

[CKwi88]

An understandable business decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

I'm not sure why an updated illustration wouldn't work. I like Disney's disclaimer approach as well.

Either way, it's pretty undeniable that the illustrations in question are quite inappropriate.

[Benton]

(03-03-2021, 12:57 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: Given how the left is offended by everything else in the world, you don't think that this was driven by them?

Meh.

The right is equally as offended, just by different stuff.

In this instance, I would say the right has a far longer history of banning books, whether because of business decisions or religion, than the left. 

[NATI BENGALS]

Isn't the Republican platform right now based on cancel culture?

Cancel taxes
Cancel regulations
Cancel anything the dems propose
Cancel immigration
Cancel voting
Cancel initiatives to help the environment
Cancel attempts to make health care affordable for all
Cancel mask mandates