A recent spat over Dr. Seuss鈥� place in the children鈥檚 literature canon has highlighted an uncomfortable truism about the books that children experience in their earliest school days: Some of the most classic and beloved titles, from The Wizard of Oz on down, draw on racist tropes and images.
The Oompa-Loompas in Roald Dahl鈥檚 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, at least in its original version, were depicted as African pygmies who were happy to be working for cocoa beans at said chocolate factory. The eponymous Cat in the Hat, a new scholarly book argues, draws from the antics and costumes of minstrel shows.
This topic entered the mainstream again late last month, when first lady Melania Trump sent 10 Dr. Seuss books to a school in each state. In a response posted online, a librarian in Cambridge, Mass., Liz Phipps Soeiro, said she would not keep them, calling the choice of books a 鈥渃lich茅鈥� and criticizing his illustrations in If I Ran the Zoo, among others, as 鈥渟teeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.鈥�
She also took aim at the Trump administration鈥檚 support for school choice programs. Trump鈥檚 spokeswoman shot back that the 鈥渄ivisive鈥� letter was unfortunate.
Hundreds of articles about the dust-up followed, some defending the librarian鈥檚 decision and others criticizing her rejection of the books as churlish. But from a curricular perspective, the episode thrusts into the limelight a difficult question: What should teachers and parents do about the culturally insensitive imagery and text in some beloved classics鈥攊ncluding the dog-eared favorites that still sit on their shelves?
A Complex History
The career of Dr. Seuss, whose full name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, is complex and not easily summarized. As a political cartoonist, he excoriated Jim Crow laws鈥攂ut also drew racist cartoons depicting Japanese-Americans as the enemy. Some of his early books suffer from similar caricatures. If I Ran the Zoo contains stereotypical images of Africans and at one point references 鈥渉elpers who all wear their eyes at a slant.鈥� (The book was not in the collection provided by Mrs. Trump.)
It can be hard to square such depictions with some of Seuss鈥� other tales, which were often liberal on sociopolitical subjects. The Sneeches argues against prejudice based on physical characteristics; The Lorax is an unsubtle environmental lament; and The Butter Battle Book allegorizes the nuclear arms race.
The Cat In the Hat lies somewhere in the middle. Although less explicitly racist, the main character owes a debt to blackface vaudeville, and was based on a black woman who worked as an elevator operator, said Philip Nel, a professor of English as Kansas State University.
And while the cat brings liveliness to two children on a dreary day, he is also clearly marked as not belonging in their white household.
鈥淚t鈥檚 actually kind of ordinary and that鈥檚 part of the point鈥攔acism is ordinary, it鈥檚 not aberrant, it鈥檚 not strange鈥攁nd that鈥檚 why Seuss is useful to think about,鈥� said Nel, whose book-length study Was The Cat In the Hat Black?, was released in August. 鈥淗e is an example of how even progressive, anti-racist people can act in ways that are racist. I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 intentionally recycling stereotypes in his book from the 鈥�50s, but the imagination is influenced by the culture in which it grows, and it doesn鈥檛 necessarily filter out the racism bits during artistic creation.鈥�
Critics of such analyses wonder if they say more about adults鈥� baggage than kids鈥� books. To echo those who have pushed back at the critical attention on Seuss鈥攖he mayor of Springfield, Mass., Geisel鈥檚 hometown, among them鈥攊sn鈥檛 the Cat in the Hat, well, just a cat in a hat?
Even those who acknowledge some of the troubling features in his book question the recent focus on his work.
鈥淪o Seuss had issues. But so did a vast array of other authors, including pretty much anyone writing before, say, 1930,鈥� one Washington Post columnist wrote.
But Nel counters that the images are powerful ones, a reminder of racism鈥檚 capacity to adapt. 鈥淚 think children notice on levels that they may not be able to articulate,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he persistence of blackface minstrelry, even in subtle ways, has a normalizing effect.鈥�
It鈥檚 tempting to think that only the subtler examples of racism persist in children鈥檚 literature. But according to Michelle H. Martin, the Beverly Cleary professor for children and youth services at the information school at the University of Washington in Seattle, versions of Little Black Sambo, first published in 1899 and long since in the public domain, have been brought out as recently as 2004, though they are sometimes sanitized.
Meanwhile, despite some advances, the children鈥檚 literature market remains dominated by white authors and depictions of white characters, according to annual data collected by the Cooperative Children鈥檚 Book Center, a research library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison鈥檚 school of education.
In 2016, just 22 percent of the roughly 3,400 books reviewed by the center featured nonwhite characters, and only 13 percent were written by people of color鈥攅ven though more than half of the United States鈥� school-age population are children of color.
The spotlight on Seuss could bring some uncomfortable attention for organizations long tied to his work, among them the National Education Association. The nation鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� union has since 1997 celebrated Read Across America, an initiative centered on Geisel鈥檚 birthday each year. And an associated symbol, the Cat in the Hat鈥檚 red-and-white-striped stovepipe hat, has been sported by everyone from the NEA president to Barack and Michelle Obama.
In recent years, the NEA has broadened its focus from Seuss, highlighting more diverse children鈥檚 books and expanding resources aimed at older children. And while it has gotten more queries and some criticism about Seuss as the author鈥檚 background has become more widespread, those changes have been priorities for some time, said Steven Grant, an NEA spokesman and manager of Read Across America.
鈥淚 think there will always be a place for Seuss books鈥攖hey are in every classroom and library in America鈥攁nd in some cases, they鈥檙e effective for younger readers,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat said, it鈥檚 not to the exclusion of all the other great books that are out there.鈥�
A Tough Balance
The harder question concerns teachers whose classrooms are stocked with the older books. The tendency is to avoid them altogether or to keep only those that don鈥檛 have objectionable content (Green Eggs and Ham, anyone?) But scholars like Nel and Martin argue there鈥檚 another way to do it: Embrace the history in effective ways.
Martin said she鈥檚 talked about one of the modern rewrites of the Sambo story, Anne Isaac鈥檚 Pancakes for Supper, with her 5-year-old niece. (The book reworks the story as an American tall tale with a female protagonist.)
鈥淭he fact that it is still part of our culture鈥攚hy are we still rewriting the story? Of what value is it?鈥� she said. 鈥淎nne Isaac鈥檚 story is a delightful story, and if you didn鈥檛 know that it鈥檚 derived from a little black Sambo story, it would stand on its own, but that鈥檚 part of the argument we鈥檙e making鈥攂ring that history out. Ask kids what they think. They might say, 鈥楾his is an awesome story,鈥� but they should be informed while reading.鈥�
Martin, who has also been a teacher-educator, also believes that programs preparing teachers need to engage with similar questions and help teachers locate more diverse books, some of which have been published by smaller, independent presses. 鈥淚f the teachers don鈥檛 have training in cultural sensitivity and diverse children鈥檚 books, they have a disconnect going into the classroom鈥攁nd they have a disadvantage. And they don鈥檛 know it,鈥� she said.
And adults of all professions should be open to taking a hard look at their favorite children鈥檚 books, and embrace the discomfort it may bring.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think nostalgia is a defense. Affection is not a defense,鈥� Nel said. 鈥淲hat you have to do is take a deep breath, step back, and realize that the culture in which these books live and in which these books were written is a racist culture and a sexist culture.鈥�
