Rethinking Dr. Seuss
If you’re active on social media, you’ve likely seen a few things about Dr. Seuss having been racist floating around. If you’re like me, you might not have thought much about it (I’m ashamed to say) or brushed it off as Dr. Seuss (Theodor Giesel) having been a product of his time. It might be hard to imagine that the bright and colorful world of Dr. Seuss that was a big part of many of our childhoods and school experiences has anything insidious about it.
It is true that many authors and historical figures have shameful secrets in their past. However, Dr. Seuss’s racism was no secret, and it’s not something he ever apologized before, even though he lived into the 1990s— hardly a time you can argue that outward racism was still acceptable. Even so, you might think, what difference does an author’s personal views have when he created such delightful books? Unfortunately, racism was embedded throughout Dr. Seuss’s books. If you don’t believe me, I really urge you to read the journal article, “The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books,” from The Conscious Kid, which you can download for free here. It’s a long read, but once you know something is racist, you shouldn’t be willing to read it to your students or celebrate the author without doing the research.
What’s more, the issue goes beyond simply having Dr. Seuss books on our classroom shelves. Seuss Day is celebrated in many schools on March 2nd, and for years Read Across America week centered around Dr. Seuss. Thankfully, the NEA has changed its mission for Read Across America and will now focus on diverse books instead of Dr. Seuss. Unfortunately, many schools have not followed suit and continue to celebrate Dr. Seuss each March.
I am not advocating that Dr. Seuss books (or any book) be banned, but I am suggesting that we not spend a whole day or week actively celebrating a man who was a known racist. There are so many wonderful diverse books out there with beautiful messages— why should we celebrate ones with racist themes written by a racist man?
The Tutu Teacher shared some great suggestions for books to read each day during Read Across America week, which you can find on her Instagram feed here. You can find even more suggestions from The Multicultural Classroom here.
Hopefully, you’re now aware that Dr. Seuss is not someone we should be holding up as a hero to our students or spending our time celebrating. Still, what if your school or the teacher next door is still holding Dr. Seuss celebrations? I really encourage you to share this information with them. If you’re scared of being confrontational, try an email or conversation like this, “I’m sure you didn’t know this, but I recently found out that Dr. Seuss was racist and that there are a lot of racist themes in his books. I know it might be really surprising to hear this since he’s so beloved, but I thought you would want to know.” If you’re sending an email, try linking to The Conscious Kid article or Naomi’s video below if you don’t think they’ll read the full article.
Thanks for taking the time to read and reflect on what’s best for students. If you’ve had experience asking your school or a colleague to reconsider celebrating Seuss I’d love hear about it in the comments!
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