The company that controls the Dr. Seuss catalog has decided to pull six of his books, because they contain images of Asians and Africans that they say "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."
The six are: "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" (1937), "McElligot's Pool" (1947), "If I Ran the Zoo" (1950), "Scrambled Eggs Super!" (1953), "On Beyond Zebra!" (1955), and "The Cat's Quizzer" (1976).
According to GoodReads.com, the best-known of those are: "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" and "If I Ran the Zoo", which rank 14th and 25th out of 63 Dr. Seuss books . . . and both have over 10,000 reviews.
On the flip-side, it looks like no one will miss "The Cat's Quizzer" which was the lowest-rated and least-read of all Dr. Seuss' books. It has less than 500 reviews, compared with classics like "Green Eggs and Ham" that have over 500,000.
The existing stock of these books is selling like hot-cakes on Amazon, and people are already trying to capitalize on the hysteria . . . offering to sell THEIR copies for THOUSANDS of dollars.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises says they made this determination after consulting with educators.
Those who are obsessed with "cancel culture" . . . both in favor and against it . . . are fixated on the idea that Dr. Seuss is suddenly "racist," but that's not what Dr. Seuss Enterprises is saying.
They say it's about protecting and preserving Dr. Seuss' legacy and relevance for generations to come. They add, quote, "Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure [the] catalog represents and supports all communities and families."
The thinking is that these books contain outdated depictions that come across differently today than they were intended when they were originally published.
For what it's worth, Dr. Seuss' step-daughter Leagrey Dimond says she wishes they'd just add a disclaimer to the six books, and keep them in publication.
She says Dr. Seuss evolved over time, and regretted some of his earlier work . . . including comic strips and political cartoons . . . but that he was a good guy. And he never had a hateful heart or acted in a bigoted manner.
