The blacklisting of six albums by popular children's author Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) for their racial stereotypes sparked controversy in the United States, with conservatives denouncing yet another example of "
cancel culture
."
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Among the titles dropped from the list are
And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street
, which features a
Chinese boy
, carrying a bowl and chopsticks.
In
If I Ran the Zoo
, characters with long mustaches appear in what looks like traditional Chinese attire.
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"
These books inappropriately and hurtfully portray characters
," Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the organization that manages the author's estate, said Tuesday, revealing that the decision to remove was taken last year, in agreement with publisher, Penguin Random House.
Read also: Matt Groening responds to those who accuse
The Simpsons
of racism
“
Taking these books off sale is just one aspect of our commitment and plan to ensure that the Dr. Seuss Enterprises catalog represents and supports all communities and families,
” the group added in a press release published on March 2.
Several conservative figures immediately denounced a form of censorship in the name of political correctness.
They see it as a new example of the "
cancel culture
", which aims to tarnish the image or disrupt the activity of a personality or a company to force it to withdraw declarations, images or products deemed offensive or discriminating, to apologize, or even to withdraw from public life.
"
When history examines this period, it will be seen as an example of a depraved socio-political purge driven by hysteria and madness,
" tweeted Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio.
Several observers noted that US President Joe Biden did not mention Dr. Seuss in a press release celebrating Read Across America Day, named after a program to promote reading among young people, unlike his predecessors Donald Trump and Barack Obama.
Asked Tuesday during her daily press briefing, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki referred journalists to the Ministry of Education.
Dr. Seuss, an American reference in children's literature
Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), better known under the name of Dr. Seuss, became from the 1930s one of the most prominent references in children's literature in the United States, and his creations were exported in many countries of the world.
The books of Dr. Seuss have sold more than 600 million copies and the universe which he invented has frequently been adapted to the cinema, with in particular
The Grinch
(two films),
The Lorax
, or even
Horton
.
The world of Dr. Seuss has often been criticized in the past for conveying, according to several observers, clichés about different ethnic communities, and has even been accused of promoting white supremacism.
A study published in 2019 by the Conscious Kid association, which promotes equality among youth, highlighted the use of caricatures for Chinese, Japanese, or Middle Eastern characters.
It also showed that the only two black figures seen in Dr. Seuss' albums were portrayed with only a loincloth, carrying wild animals.
The study also presented Dr. Seuss' animals as a vector of stereotypical racial representation, first and foremost the cat from the "
Cat in the Hat,
" one of the author's most famous books.
According to several publications, the cat would have been inspired by the “
blackface
”
culture
, a caricatural representation of black people by make-up white actors.
Anti-fascist cartoonist during the war
The work of Theodor Geisel and the man himself are complex. During World War II, the illustrator produced more than 400 political cartoons for the New York daily PM, most of them criticizing American isolationism and attacking Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini or Joseph Stalin.
Several youth comic book authors born before the war have been criticized for their approach to minorities, in particular the Belgian Hergé and his
Tintin in the Congo
. Since the 1980s and 1990s, representations have evolved and now generally avoid clichés and caricatures.
The controversy gave a boost to the albums of Dr. Seuss, which occupied, Tuesday at the end of the day, 14 of the top 20 sales places on the online shopping site Amazon. On eBay, old copies of I
f I Ran the Zoo
were selling for up to $ 1,300 each ...
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