expert explains why images are harmful
If you’re a kid, or ever were, you probably know all about dr. seuss.
The whimsical author, who died in 1991, wrote over 40 books, including famous titles like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Cat in the Hat, and Horton Hears a Who!
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But now, six of those books are no longer in print.
on March 2, coinciding with dr. seuss birthday, dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that he had stopped publishing six of his books because racist images appear in them.
“these books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong”, dr. seuss enterprises told the associated press.
dr. Seuss Enterprises is a children’s book division of Random House that manages the author’s legacy since his death.
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dr. seuss enterprises said the decision to stop publishing and selling the books was made last year after months of discussion.
the six books are:
what’s wrong with the books?
although dr. Seuss is adored by millions of people around the world for the positive values in many of his works, including environmentalism and tolerance. some say several of those books have caused harm by the way they portray people of color.
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In if I ran the zoo, for example, there are characters referred to as Africans who wear no clothing except grass skirts and are drawn with ape features.
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illustrations of African characters in dr. 1950 seuss book if i ran the zoo (image credit: dr. seuss companies)
another example comes from a book called and to think that I saw it in the street morera, in which a character is called a “Chinese who eats with sticks”, with slits drawn for eyes.
why are these images harmful?
Lance McCready, associate professor and director of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, said these images are harmful because they are based on racist stereotypes.
according to mccready, a stereotype is a generalized, oversimplified and generalized belief of a particular person, group or thing that is simply not true.
said that stereotypes, like those of dr. seuss, are harmful because people end up believing those stereotypes.
lance mccready is an associate professor specializing in social and cultural studies. (image submitted by lance mccready).
“when a child learns to read, and those reading materials contain stereotypical images, and there’s not an opportunity for them to really interact with the people or groups they’re reading about, then that’s the way they view those people,” McCready said in an interview with CBC Kids News.
McCready explained how stereotypes of black people, such as images of Africans if I ran the zoo, have affected him in his own life.
“When I was in first grade, I will never forget when a boy, who was white, told me I was stupid, and I said: ‘I’m not stupid, I know where I come from, I know my heritage,’” he said.
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“and then he said, ‘you come from mud huts in Africa, you know nothing.’
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“what that story shows is that that student, after seeing so many stereotypical images of black people, really started to believe that this was not too simple, but that all black people lived in mud huts in Africa”, McCready said.
mccready said that because these books are still in circulation, and ‘there are movies that continue to be made based on dr. seuss’, it is important that we address them now. (image credit: scott olson/getty images)
McCready also said that just because we’re talking about these images now doesn’t mean they were okay back then.
“Those were always stereotyped and simplified images of people…they never reflected the rich diversity of those groups,” he said. “We have simply become more aware of the harmful nature of these images.”
so what next? we canceled dr. seuss?
mccready said we don’t need to stop reading dr. seuss, but we need to talk about the harmful images he created and learn from them.
according to dr. Seuss Enterprises, the author’s books generated US$33 million before taxes in 2020 alone. Forbes listed it no. 2 on the highest-paid dead celebrities of 2020. (Image Credit: Erin McCracken/The Associated Press)
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“I think that many people underestimate the depth of the racist, sexist, homophobic, abelista and anti-immigrant representations that are actually found in many of the books and curricula that we use in education. we need to discuss them much more and confront them.”
mccready said that as we continue to learn why these stereotypes were wrong, more beloved authors are likely to be criticized and “we shouldn’t shy away from that.”
Other books and illustrations, including The Cat and the Hat, have also been criticized for depicting stereotypes, but only six titles will be suspended for now.
with archives from cbc news and the associated press
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