Which Dr. Seuss Book Would You Like to Read to My Black Children?
If you’re upset that Dr. Seuss has been canceled, I have just one question for you:
Which of these books do you think I should have read to my children when they were little, or to my grandchildren, assuming I will one day have some?
Maybe you can convince the Dr. Seuss publishing folks to keep publishing that one.
If your news source is limited to just the one, here are points you will have missed and should consider:
The Dr. Seuss company announced on Dr. Seuss Day that they would no longer publish SIX books and have recalled them from stores. Out of the 60+ books Dr. Seuss published under that name. If you’d like a copy, many libraries will still have them on their antiquated shelves and you can surely find them in a museum somewhere. Or ask your local white supremacists who are now clinging tightly to their cherished copies.
“Cancel culture” is often the response when someone doesn’t want to be held accountable for their bad/racist/misogynistic/xenophobic/transphobic/ homophobic behavior. If you’re shouting “cancel culture” over this, ask yourself WHY you want these books to keep being published.
And then ask yourself which one you’d be willing to read during story time for a Black child.
Bonus points for reading this far: If you didn’t have to prescreen books for images like these before purchasing or reading them to your children, you have white privilege.
