Racist Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

1 minute ago, March34th said:

no. they should get rid of them, 1. because children reading these books might adopt these stereotypes and racist views towards certain groups, not fully understanding that it's wrong or hurtful.

your comparison makes no sense. concentration camps were physical locations utilized by a former government to kill and torture people during wartime. they're kept as physical reminders of those who's lives were taken and the family members they left behind, and as a reminder of what bad can happen when the wrong people and wrong ideologies get into power. no 5 year old child knows what the holocaust was. and i doubt parents are taking their toddlers to a holocaust memorial.

these books are geared towards children. we should not allow people or publishers to distribute literature or other forms of media geared towards children who are still learning about the world if that media contains insensitive/racist/sexist/etc themes in it.

and saying "2. oh that was how it was back then, back then racism was okay" is not an argument

1. If it is known these books are racist, why are libraries and book stories renting/selling them to kids in the first place? Yes the content is problematic, but erasing the books from history won't solve the problem perse. Why don't these books get the same treatment as Hitler's Mein Kampf? the book is still being printed, it is illegal in some countries, but you can buy or borrow said book only for academic purposes.  

2. that was not what I was implying, an explanatory epilogue would give context to the books, which is not the same as oh it was like that back then. No if you know the content is bad, you don't gear these books towards kids anymore, but you gear these books for academic historic purposes.

[Bonkers 30,860]

I see it sort of like how movies like Shrek include sexual double entendre, shout-outs that were only picked up by people who got them.  

At the time, this kind of racism was acceptable because people were living in large bubbles and other cultures seemed much more foreign than they do now.  

So times have changed, we're no longer living in racially separate bubbles and these "jokes" are now known to be harmful.  Since Dr. Suess books are *children's* books it doesn't make sense to ignore the problems with them.   

The people who own the rights to problematic properties are in a position where they have to make decisions and it only seems logical to remove or update.

[Jill 31,812]

Remember this is the same man who slept with another woman while her wife was in the hospital with cancer. An all around piece of sh!t that deserves this and more.

[LaLuna 12,732]

I've heard Dr Seuss was an a$$hole and that he actually hated children, so this is good 

[Jose P 23,341]

39 minutes ago, Chromatislaps said:

1. If it is known these books are racist, why are libraries and book stories renting/selling them to kids in the first place? Yes the content is problematic, but erasing the books from history won't solve the problem perse. Why don't these books get the same treatment as Hitler's Mein Kampf? the book is still being printed, it is illegal in some countries, but you can buy or borrow said book only for academic purposes.  

 

The thing is... these are children’s books. Like, what’s the point of just keeping them there while at the same time restricting children from reading them, when they’re literally books for children. Historical value? They’re just some children’s books that the world doesn’t need. They’re not even his most classic stories. Mein Kampf is different because it’s actually a valuable piece of history. 

I get that people here often times want to play devil’s advocate but the truth of the matter is, these are children’s books riddled with obvious harmful, dated, and racist stereotypes. The best thing is to just remove them. They’re not removing his entire catalogue because he was racist, just the ones that contain such racism. It’s not the same as erasing history, not in the slightest.

[Chromatislaps 34,854]

5 minutes ago, Jose P said:

The thing is... these are children’s books. Like, what’s the point of just keeping them there while at the same time restricting children from reading them, when they’re literally books for children. Historical value? They’re just some children’s books that the world doesn’t need. They’re not even his most classic stories. Mein Kampf is different because it’s actually a valuable piece of history. 

I get that people here often times want to play devil’s advocate but the truth of the matter is, these are children’s books riddled with obvious harmful, dated, and racist stereotypes. The best thing is to just remove them. They’re not removing his entire catalogue because he was racist, just the ones that contain such racism. It’s not the same as erasing history, not in the slightest.

Fair, you make a legit point here. This actually makes me agree with the erasure. You're quite right, I love being the devil's advocate, I've noticed some people get triggered whenever I go against the current

[Jill 31,812]

1 hour ago, Chromatislaps said:

I love being the devil's advocate, I've noticed some people get triggered whenever I go against the current

You're braver than the troops. Thank you for your service.

[Lion Heart 15,041]

To my understanding, only 6 books will no longer be published? That doesn't seem that bad. Most of the reactions I see on Twitter are from every right-wing grifter and reactionary screaming about how far "the left's" cancel-culture has gone... when only 6 books of his are being removed. 

That being said, Dr. Seuss spilled some facts: 

[Ivy 13,718]

I think it's definitely good to remove these ones, these books are for really young kids and they don't have to be exposed to any kind of hatred like that in their books when they're just starting to learn about the world. History education can come later