Dr. Seuss books discontinued - racist imagery

[Valcazar]

I haven't even heard of the 6 books being discontinued
They certainly are not among Seuss' top sellers

The only one I had heard of (and probably read as a kid ) was the Mulberry street one. Some people I know remember the zoo one.

There is a reason why the people complaining constantly say how much they love the Cat in the Hat - they want you to think that's what is being "cancelled" or "banned".

Nope. They'll be removed. Virtue signallers gotta virtue signal. How exactly am I terrified?

You sure as fuck are acting terrified.

So now "they" tell you what you can and can't sell based on what "mob" deemed offensive. Nothing to see here, nothing to worry about!

Ebay has done this for years. Have you ever tried to buy a Confederate flag there?
I agree it is dumb, though. If the book isn't being published anymore, it just moves into the collectible market and who cares?

But your news link is about Portsmouth, VA?

And the other link was about how a big city library like New York isn't getting rid of them. (And even then, making room on the shelves is the most common thing in the world in libraries.)

 

[jcpro]

EBay to Ban Six Dr. Seuss Books for Violating 'Offensive Material' Policy

EBay is reportedly removing the six Dr. Seuss books that the author's estate has stopped publishing, saying that it is working on removing the titles from its online auctions and other listings.

www.breitbart.com

 

[t.o.leafs.fan]

But your news link is about Portsmouth, VA?

No shit. What's your point? A comment was made that just because the company wasn't going to publish the books anymore, libraries surely wouldn't be pulling the copies. So I posted the first link that popped up which just so happened to be libraries in VA pulling copies.

 

[t.o.leafs.fan]

You sure as fuck are acting terrified.

I'm honestly curious. How am I sure as fuck acting terrified?

 

[Valcazar]

You're freaking out that civilization is under attack because someone isn't publishing a children's book.

 

[t.o.leafs.fan]

You're freaking out that civilization is under attack because someone isn't publishing a children's book.

Can I get some of your stash, please? It seems pretty trippy. I'm not freaking out and I'm not terrified. I'm just commenting on some run-of-the-mill, woke stupidity.

 

[Charlemagne]

Ted Cruz’s Dr. Seuss Tweet Has People Scratching Their Heads"

Maybe you missed it while in Cancun but Biden has not done anything to cancel book publication. Nada. Nothing. Zilch," one person hit back on Twitter.

‘WTF Is This All About’: Ted Cruz’s Dr. Seuss Tweet Has People Scratching Their Heads

"Maybe you missed it while in Cancun but Biden has not done anything to cancel book publication. Nada. Nothing. Zilch," one person hit back on Twitter.

m.huffingtonpost.ca

 

[TeeJay]

The only one I had heard of (and probably read as a kid ) was the Mulberry street one. Some people I know remember the zoo one.

There is a reason why the people complaining constantly say how much they love the Cat in the Hat - they want you to think that's what is being "cancelled" or "banned".

I think this over issue is just being blown up by both sides into something it really is not
6 overall unpopular books (I would guess make up less than 1% of their revenue... from what most are saying only 2 of the 6 even appear to be known... I never heard of any of them)


Finally got some sources as to what is so "terrible"
After I reviewed them I will chip in they are not anywhere close to his best work
Some are VERY bad books quality wise
But really the only one I think is a major issue is the last one (Cats Quizzer)

Most of the issues is more to do with imagery than actual words


And to Think I Saw on Mulberry St
"a Chinese man who eats with sticks" [china]

If I Ran the Zoo
"helpers who wear their eyes at a slant" [china]

McElligot Pool
"some eskimo fish" [eskimo]

On Beyond Zebra
"nazzim of bazzim" [middle eastern?]

Scrambled Egg Super
"great happy gay families with cousins" [gay]
"beyond the north pole" [eskimos]

Cats Quizzer
"how old do you have to be to be japanese" [japan?]
"do japanese eat with pogo sticks or joss sticks [japan]
"are there many women kings, are there any women uncles" [sexist]
"who is taller a tall pygmy or short giant" [african pygmy]
"all japanese are japanese the moment they are born" [japan]


Cats Quizzer reads awful, it was never a good book to begin with
And certain things even I reacted to as offensive (eg Joss Sticks which are for religious purposes being used as utensils, the commentary women can't be in charge of a country, and I get why woke culture dislikes the pygmy part.

But really this book is more of a Quiz book (as title implies) with random questions and answers (and super out of date, which I attribute to some errors)


Oh and typical American lunacy; a Japanese baby is NOT Japanese the moment they are born either lol
Japan attributes nationality by blood, not location of birth (eg if you drive across border to USA and have a child, the child is an American. If you fly to Japan and have a child the child is not Japanese)

 

[mandrill]

The objections seem fussy. OTOH, they're books for kids and schools are trying to message kids that everyone is the same and minimize differences in how races are perceived. So maybe there's a more sensitive standard than for adults. I mean the last thing that a teacher probably wants is for the little Oriental kid in her class to start crying or get bullied because he looks like one of those pictures and the other kids laugh at him.

Britain's iconic kids book writer was someone called Enid Blyton. She was basically the 1-person British kids book industry for about 30 years, churning out 100's of titles from picture stories for 5 year olds to juvenile detective stories for 10 year olds. Since these were written in the 30's and 40's, they were out of step with current mores and they were simply rewritten back in the 80's with all the objectionable bits taken out - i.e. kids being caned (routine in Britain in the 30's), racial stereotypes and caricatures.

Apparently the Brits dgaf and just bought the new version without commenting.

I'm guessing that the reason the Seuss books were discontinued is that they were unpopular titles and never made $ and Seuss published dozens of more lucrative books and it just wasn't worthwhile cleaning those titles up.

 

[Valcazar]

Ted Cruz’s Dr. Seuss Tweet Has People Scratching Their Heads"

Maybe you missed it while in Cancun but Biden has not done anything to cancel book publication. Nada. Nothing. Zilch," one person hit back on Twitter.

Most of these "cancel culture" stories are like this. Something relatively innocuous happens, the Right Wing Scream Machine magnifies it into a couch-fainting/pearl-clutching drama, it becomes a myth that is almost unrecognizable from the reality.

Here - a company decides it won't send six little-known books by Dr Seuss to a new printing.
The Scream Machine has turned it into "Doctor Seuss is being forbidden to publish books by Biden - civilization is going to fall".
Rinse.
Repeat.

I think this over issue is just being blown up by both sides into something it really is not
6 overall unpopular books (I would guess make up less than 1% of their revenue... from what most are saying only 2 of the 6 even appear to be known... I never heard of any of them)

I'm guessing that the reason the Seuss books were discontinued is that they were unpopular titles and never made $ and Seuss published dozens of more lucrative books and it just wasn't worthwhile cleaning those titles up.

You're both right. This was clear from the beginning (also that, as TeeJay says, the imagery was the problem more than the words).
It was a nothing burger. Like the potatohead thing.
But with no policies to discuss and no scandals getting traction with Biden, the GOP doesn't have much else to talk about.
Culture war is the glue holding them together.
Also, with Biden not providing nonsense and drama every day with his cabinet the press is missing that rush of easy click bait stories so we are going to go back to long, drawn out fake scandals about complete bullshit because they have time to kill now.

 

[rogerdodger]

 

[JeanGary Diablo]

Funny to see this rather prudish post on a message board with a target audience of sex workers and their clients.

 

[AdamH]

Honestly, the two are mutually exclusive.

It's not like WAP won"Song of the Year for children".

 

[luvyeah]

 

[luvyeah]

 

[GameBoy27]

If you just read the headlines, you'd get the impression that these books are being banned by the Government or some other entity. But in fact, they're simply not going to reprint 6 books. Get over it!

 

[kherg007]

Here are the facts, as info it lacks.
As all you youths, were given half truths!!


1) ONLY 6, of the many Dr Seuss books, were pulled - BY HIS FAMILY/ESTATE. No one forced or protested or tweeted (until after it was announced). Cat in the hat, hop on pop, horton, sam i am etc are all just fine. AND,
2) The books they pulled used terms now considered derogatory (e.g., "chinaman") or drew Africans like the stereotype "sambo" or as natives/primitive, etc.

 

[luvyeah]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1367882603567616000

 

[Cantaro]

 

[Tomoreno]

Boners aren't racist