I've seen a lot in media-- both social and traditional media-- about the inherent racist images/words in classic stories by Dr Seuss. To some people, the choice of the Seuss legacy to cease publication of certain storybooks is yet another example of cancel culture.
To be honest, I am tired of the term" cancel culture thrown around every time people are asked to re-evaluate a part of our collective life together through the lens of new material that paints our institutions in a negative light.
I am not much of a Seuss fan{ even as a child I found his drawings creepy} but I was a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder's _ Little House_ books. When I learned that the National Library Association decided to pull her name from their top children's book award due to some anti- Native American images and descriptions, I was sad. The " Little House" books were the first chapter book I read as a small child.
However, when I looked back objectively at some of the dialog and descriptions that Wilder uses when she talks about the family's interactions and perceptions of Native Americans { meanwhile when the White " settlers" were squatting on land promised to these tribes in a contract with the US Government} I felt uncomfortable. It is hard to look at some beloved books from my childhood in a new light-- but I owe it to our non-White siblings to understand how the words & images in literature harm them.
Maybe we should talk with our children about why these images appear in books, and why they are hurtful to Black and Brown people? It has been my experience that children understand much more about injustice than they show we adults. Part of anti-racism work is stepping into our own uncomfortable zones and see why some of our beloved cultural icons { such as Dr Seuss} can be problematic for our siblings-of-color.
Re-viewing books and movies with a mind & heart is not " cancel culture". No one is forcing anyone to stop buying/producing these works. What people are asking of others is to take a second look at some of our cultural icons-- both of the literary variety and other art forms.
Here is what the New York Times article on this subject has to say about this sensitive topic:
"Children’s publishers and literary estates are trying to walk a delicate line by preserving an author’s legacy, while recognizing and rejecting aspects of a writer’s work that are out of step with current social and cultural values,” The Times’s Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris.
My dear White folx, we need to move beyond our comfort zone. Seeing my beloved Little House books in a new light made me sad. But this is not about my feelings, it is about making a better society for all our children.
Amen
~Sarah McCarren
4 March 2021
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