I missed the racism in Dr. Seuss's children books. I guess I wasn't looking hard enough. I still don't see the racism in Dr. Seuss's children books. Is The Cat in the Hat really about a minstrel black man cat? Are the Horton the Elephant stories really about white savior imagery (and he is an elephant, so he must be a Republican)?
You could say Horton was prolife in Horton Hears A Who, but you can't be teaching children that! He'll sue!
But Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodor Seuss Geisel, did do lots of propaganda cartoons during WWII that had plenty of racist stereotypes about the enemy at the time, including lots of negative stuff about Japanese-Americans. While there were certainly some Japanese-Americans who were loyal to the Emperor, for the most part shouldn't have been collectively considered enemies (at least not without due process and evidence), but you have to put it in context.
I am guessing Liz Phipps-Soeiro must have "woke" relatively recently about the evil racist Dr. Seuss messages though, because here she is embracing those "racist" tropes in 2015:
Those WWII examples weren't the points that Liz Phipps-Soeiro raised to Melania Trump, but those WWII cartoons are real examples of racism. Of course, you have to consider them in the context of the times, after a sneak attack by Imperial Japan that killed thousands of Americans and a world war being declared...
But if we are going to explore WWII racism in America, who was behind the internment of Japanese Americans again? Who signed that executive order? Wasn't he a progressive Democrat? Dr. Seuss's WWII era cartoons were typically pro Franklin Delano Roosevelt and critical of Republicans at the time.
Of course Pragmatic Mom's contention that Dr. Seuss should have shared his profits from his later books with victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seems a bit off.
Maybe Pragmatic Mom could also address racism at Harvard (which is in Cambridge) over Asian-American admissions?
EBL: Liz Phipps-Soeiro, The Chidey Cambridge Librarian Snubs Melania Trump and Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt Interns Japanese Americans
Instapundit: The hypocrisy of Liz, the graciousness of Melania, and the lessons of Dr. Seuss, Washington Examiner: The Culture Wars Come for Dr. Seuss, Libraries aren't what they used to be, FDR appoints KKK member to the Supreme Court, Democrats need to Denounce Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Darkest era for American history?, Did Dr. Seuss coin the world "nerd", Remembering Dr. Seuss, and Racist and Lefty Librarians
AoSHQ: Shrewish Scold of a LibrarianYou could say Horton was prolife in Horton Hears A Who, but you can't be teaching children that! He'll sue!
But Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodor Seuss Geisel, did do lots of propaganda cartoons during WWII that had plenty of racist stereotypes about the enemy at the time, including lots of negative stuff about Japanese-Americans. While there were certainly some Japanese-Americans who were loyal to the Emperor, for the most part shouldn't have been collectively considered enemies (at least not without due process and evidence), but you have to put it in context.
I am guessing Liz Phipps-Soeiro must have "woke" relatively recently about the evil racist Dr. Seuss messages though, because here she is embracing those "racist" tropes in 2015:
Those WWII examples weren't the points that Liz Phipps-Soeiro raised to Melania Trump, but those WWII cartoons are real examples of racism. Of course, you have to consider them in the context of the times, after a sneak attack by Imperial Japan that killed thousands of Americans and a world war being declared...
But if we are going to explore WWII racism in America, who was behind the internment of Japanese Americans again? Who signed that executive order? Wasn't he a progressive Democrat? Dr. Seuss's WWII era cartoons were typically pro Franklin Delano Roosevelt and critical of Republicans at the time.
This story contends this above is a Dr. Seuss cartoon, I concur that is a racist cartoon (which you can't put in the context of anger over Pearl Harbor). It did go up for auction recently, but no one bid on it.
Do some thoughts in your youth taint you for life, and beyond?
Racist Cat in the Hat and Michelle Obama
Dr. Seuss and Dr. Seuss Enterprises profited profoundly off of the sales of this book, it’s Broadway rendition, the Horton Hears a Who! movie (which grossed $297 million dollars) and associated merchandise. None of it went to the Japanese community, including those still impacted by cancer and leukemia from the atomic bomb blasts. Dr. Seuss never directly apologized for his anti-Japanese work and this book doesn’t hold up as a meaningful, indirect one.If you are for Dr. Seuss sharing his money with others (funny how generous progressives are with other people's money), why not with the victims of Imperial Japan? That belies where she is coming from. Pragmatic Mom is part Japanese, Chinese and Korean in background, perhaps she should look back in history in how Japan treated Chinese and Koreans during WWII? Hint: It involved more than hurtful cartoons.
Maybe Pragmatic Mom could also address racism at Harvard (which is in Cambridge) over Asian-American admissions?
I like the part of #LizPhippsSoeiro'a job where she DRESSES UP like the #DrSeuss character Cat in the Hat. #NutJob pic.twitter.com/Ybf7Vp4pVb— .@SerendipityDizl (@SerendipityDizl) September 29, 2017
EBL: Liz Phipps-Soeiro, The Chidey Cambridge Librarian Snubs Melania Trump and Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt Interns Japanese Americans
Instapundit: The hypocrisy of Liz, the graciousness of Melania, and the lessons of Dr. Seuss, Washington Examiner: The Culture Wars Come for Dr. Seuss, Libraries aren't what they used to be, FDR appoints KKK member to the Supreme Court, Democrats need to Denounce Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Darkest era for American history?, Did Dr. Seuss coin the world "nerd", Remembering Dr. Seuss, and Racist and Lefty Librarians
DaTechGuy: While we were talking about football...Being literate is racist! Reading Dr. Seuss is racist. Knowledge is racist. Working is racist. pic.twitter.com/rSa57bzLSg— Texas Bacon 🇺🇸 (@Gwenyth777) September 29, 2017
AoSHQ: NRO slappin's the heck out of each other (more reasons why Donald Trump won...)
It's almost as if some throw around accusations of racism like a wild card to bolster a stupid argument and score cheap political points!?! https://t.co/5J1YSFnm4u— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 29, 2017
Victory Girls: The hypocrisy of Liz the Librarian
Mark Steyn: The Cat In The Racist Hat, also, Slaughter On The Strip
Wombat: Don Surber: Why They Say Dr. Seuss Is A Racist, JustOneMinute: This Is How We Keep Trump, Library Edition
Let's not forget the Demos kept the military segregated.
ReplyDeleteEisenhower was the one who integrated the armed forces.
PS The word is belies. Belay is when you pay out a rope by looping or fastening it to something.
Trump was never accused of racism until he ran against Hillary.
ReplyDeleteThe First Lady reading Dr. Seuss to children was never considered racist until after Trump was inaugurated.
I'm beginning to see a pattern here!