We’ve got a problem.
Here’s where we are now in the world: demonizing Dr. Seuss for being a racist.
Dr. Seuss, who himself was bullied and mistreated as a child for being of German heritage.
Who hid out, drawing (inaccurate!) pictures of fantastical creatures as a child, inspired by seeing his father work at the zoo.
Who wrote with various pen names, disguising his ancestry to find a bigger audience. I’m not sure banning just a handful of his books is enough.
To begin with, I’m offended he would suggest a mother abandoning her children to go shopping (The Cat in the Hat).
If we’re fair, we should also ban Yertle the Turtle and Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now, which may or may not implicate certain unfavorable politicians…and also, Horton the Elephant books, which depict animal cruelty and pro-life sentiments.
Not to leave out Hop on Pop, which speaks of a Mr. Brown and Mr. Black, who are not brown or black and on the very cover two children laughing as they dance on their father’s belly (a father who has not given consent, mind you).
There is Dr. Seuss A to Z, which clearly portrays a man, Uncle Ubb (a man who look suprisingly similar to Hitler), in his underwear, and two naked boys, Willy and Waldo Woo, bathing one another.
In Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog, he poses the question, “Would you rather be a Skinny…or would you rather be a Fat?” In Maybe you should fly a jet! Maybe you should be a vet! Seuss offers ideas on potential grown up jobs for kids: glass blower, mushroom grower, fishbone boner, roller coaster owner. You’ve got to BE someone sooner or later. What if I’m not a fan of choosing skinny or fat? What if I’m a thirty-seven year old who still doesn’t have a real job?
There’s The Foot Book, which brazenly declares a uniqueness between male and female feet. And the most obvious abomination of all, the favorite Green Eggs and Ham, which is a blatant anti-semitic, tormenting, pressure-filled rant on Jews who cannot, according to their religion, violate their conscience by consuming pig flesh.
While I’m feeling bothered, it brings me to the most recent slap in the face: a local school district posting photos of kids and teachers dressing up and pretending to be 100 years old to celebrate 100 days of school. Hello, ageism! Centenarians, you are no longer good for anything except being made fun of on the one hundredth day of school.
Of course I am being satirical, and yet, isn’t this also offensive? A misnomer? In this joke-loving, meme-making world, who is despised more than Donald Trump, the king of satire, the guy who joked about ingesting household cleaner? Ironically, SNL was not censored or canceled for their outrageous and disgusting skit portraying the characters of The Grinch as a threesome in front of children. Some satire approved, some satire, punished.
The double standards never cease: Who is adored more than Michelle Obama, who recited an entire Dr. Seuss book at her college graduation? Should I be offended by celebrities who have voiced audiobook renditions of Seuss–Jason Lee, Joan Cusack, Neil Patrick Harris? I don’t subscribe to their lifestyles–should I ban their Dr. Seuss reading voices in my home?
I can’t keep up with what’s okay and what’s not. I don’t think it is up to me or you. We cannot endure this be-perfect-or-else-you’ll-pay attitude. We are going to bury ourselves in the process.
Friends, be offended by something that matters.
Be offended by:
Selective abortion of 97% of Down Syndrome babies (eugenics, which is defined as “the science of improving human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics”).
Be offended by:
Margaret Sanger, who birthed Planned Parenthood and famously said, “I think the biggest sin there is is bringing a child into this world.”
Be offended by:
School districts pushing toward more mental health and selective curriculum which denigrates parental involvement and elevates the role of unfeeling, money hungry “leaders” who get richer and more powerful by your acquiescence.
Be offended by:
Screen time and the addiction that forms as a result of kids being abandoned by adults to their devices, which may result in temporary quietness, but also is rewiring their brains to be dependent, robotic, depressed and suicidal.
Be offended by:
Your own lack of kindness, your own lack of values, your tendency to point the finger, your self-serving attitude, your pride at being quick to accuse.
These are all a slap in the face of Humanity. These all discriminate and loudly state that CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE LESS VALUABLE THAN OTHERS. We ought to be offended.
I choose to not be offended by moms and dads sitting on their couches, reading about elephants hatching eggs (the world really should be celebrating, if you think about it). Two of my kids learned to read, thanks to one kooky author. They didn’t read between the lines, they never decided to sit on a cactus (no Pat, no! Don’t sit on that!). They have not tried to lure a wild fox into a box to eat ham with them. They have not learned to be racist toward their peers with almond-shaped eyes, nor have they ever assumed a person of color is better suited as a servant.
They have learned (by way of the voice of one Neil Patrick Harris) about the ugliness of greed (The Bippolo Seed). They have learned to love counting (Wacky Wednesday) and memorizing tongue twisters (The Sleep Book and Fox in Socks–the latter a masterpiece–Suess was genius). We’ve spent a fun afternoon trying to recreate strawberry flips and butterscotch ding dang doos (I Am Not Going to Get Up Today).
They have learned that I love them, because I’ll pull them up on my lap and read them a silly book. They’ve learned that I think they are very important to me.
You know what I think? Dr. Seuss was magic. He did more for literacy in America, more for kids and parents than any other author, ever. We ought to be ashamed he’s being crucified for his creative efforts that ushered in a whole era of primary readers and exciting, silly colorful stories. Leave the hilarious and absurd in the hands of the master, Theodor Geisel. He was far better than us at creating an inclusive world.
It should be, it should be, it should be like that.
