![]() ![]() Philip Nel, a professor at Kansas State University, is one of the nation’s leading Seuss scholars. Was Theodor Seuss Geisel racist? It’s ‘complicated’ The furor quickly overran the underlying question, one that could alter the legacy of a writer whose four-dozen books collectively have sold more than 650 million copies worldwide, whose earnings last year were calculated by Forbes magazine at $20 million (placing him seventh on its list of “Top Earning Dead Celebrities”), whose books are still often the very first given to newborns. Her school released a statement saying she had been out of line. While supporters praised Soeiro for raising the issue - “You rock,” read one posting, “My hero,” read another - critics accused her of being rude and ungrateful, of “political correctness.” They called her a hypocrite after a photo surfaced of her at a school event wearing a Cat in the Hat stovepipe and clutching a Cat in the Hat doll. Her comments drew the attention of media around the world and sparked an uproar in all the usual places where America’s cultural and political disputes get aired. 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 the art.” Seuss’ illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and racial stereotypes. “Many people are unaware,” librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro wrote, “that Dr. The mural controversy came two weeks after an elementary school librarian in Cambridge, Mass., turned down a donation of 10 Seuss books from First Lady Melania Trump. Seuss would have wanted us to do,” the company said. In a statement, Seuss Enterprises said the mural would be replaced with images from later works like “The Sneetches” and “Horton Hears a Who!” that contain lessons about tolerance and inclusion. ![]()
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