re: #29 danarchy

So watching the local news tonight, there was a story about a school librarian in Cambridge returning a book donation from Melania.

They were asking about whether it was an insult to her, I don’t really care about that, but in her letter she also said:

Dissing Dr. Seuss is just wrong…

patch.com

It gets worse. Full letter here.

Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. Open one of his books (If I Ran a Zoo or And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, for example), and you’ll see the racist mockery in his art. Grace Hwang Lynch’s School Library Journal article, “Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away from Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books,” reports on Katie Ishizuka’s work analyzing the minstrel characteristics and trope nature of Seuss’s characters. Scholar Philip Nel’s new book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, further explores and shines a spotlight on the systemic racism and oppression in education and literature.
I am honored that you recognized my students and our school. I can think of no better gift for children than books; it was a wonderful gesture, if one that could have been better thought out.

It was a wonderful gesture but it was steeped in evil hidden racism? Look, I’m somebody who has no trouble believing that many zombie movies are racist, but this is off the wall. This person is……confused.