SEUSS, CANCEL CULTURE, & RACISM
So let’s talk about Seuss, cancel culture, and racism.
It’s no secret that much of my writing and illustration career has been inspired by Seuss. He was tenacious, original, and a pioneer in children’s literature. He revolutionized the industry to begin writing FOR kids and not just TO kids. Pioneering new departments within publishing to encourage literacy and write stories to cater towards children’s ages and reading levels, giving more access to children at any level to read and learn. He wrote stories and rhymes that the literary world had never seen or experienced! Not to mention his perseverance! Trying again and again, only to find success 26 rejections later. That kind of audacity makes me feel like I can do anything! Who cares if it takes 26 rejections or years?
So of course with the headlines of cancel culture coming after Seuss, I felt a lot of emotions. What is true? What is right? Am I still allowed to be inspired by his work? Cancel culture in our day and age can be frustrating, people tend to be offended by a LOT. A LOT. And to be honest even as a millennial I feel that a lot of these movements are petty and missing their mark. However, a cancel culture movement inspired by the desire to eradicate racism and the act of ‘othering’ people doesn’t seem to be one of those. It’s a mark we need to hit.
Multiple people asked me how I felt about it all, knowing how much Seuss has inspired me, and my own work within the publishing industry. Typically with cancel culture movements, I don’t like to be informed by social media. I don’t want to just say or feel something because I feel obligated or feel an obligation to be politically correct and accurate. The enneagram 3 in me wants to be authentic, genuine in any opinion I form. So people asked me what I thought, and to be honest for a couple people I responded that I wasn’t sure yet. I had known about racial stereotypes in ‘To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street’. I also knew about Seuss’ work in editorial cartoons- a line of work that leans heavily towards using racial stereotypes for comedy and sending a message. What intrigued and bothered me was the response I then got from multiple people, “He was just doing what was appropriate for his time!”
Possibly. True. However, Seuss was born in 1904 and wrote a majority of his books between 1950-1970…. What else was appropriate during his time? What else was culturally acceptable? Jim Crow Laws. Segregation. A separate but equal ideal that was popular but not actually true. Redlining.
On March 1, 1875 congress passed a Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations at inns, public transportation, and public events. So why did Rosa Parks have to make a stand by taking a seat on that bus in 1955? Because racism didn’t just disappear. 5 years prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1875, a law was passed to make it illegal for black and white children to attend the same schools. Even after the Civil Rights Act, that didn’t change, and even decades later laws were made to eradicate even that seemingly big step in the right direction. What does this tell us about history? The Civil Rights movement in the 60’s, all the way up until now, why has Civil Rights been a reoccurring movement within America?
History repeats itself and unfortunately racism isn’t a weed that will die if it’s ignored. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we have failed to eradicate racism and pull it up by the root. And if not by the root, it won’t die.
Now does not feel like the time to defend Seuss or justify why even I have been so inspired by him, because it’s not about me. There’s a bigger picture here and honestly, a bigger need to simply say- I see it too. I did the research. I saw the illustrations in question, and I support BIPOC communities in saying, you deserve to feel dignified. Your children are worthy and should feel worthy when seeing their reflection in illustrations.
So much of Seuss has inspired my journey as an Author and Illustrator but even in the words of Seuss, “You have a brain in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” I do have a brain in my head, so I did my research. I have feet in my shoes, so I know exactly where I don’t want to go. Marginalizing and ‘othering’ people in any form within my work is not somewhere I will go, ever.
I hope that’s already seen in my work, now and moving forward.
I also would like to address the lack of diversity within his books. It is a real thing, but it also has been a problem for the majority of children’s literature. Period. Whether it was created in the last 100 years or 10 years. I see it and I’ve been listening. When my friends post about how they wish their kids could see themselves in the pictures or in the story… I want that too. Everyone deserves the opportunity to feel included and celebrated, and stories is such a powerful, wonderful way to do that. BIPOC communities are not asking too much, being difficult, or too sensitive in calling this out.
Seuss impacted children’s literature in so many ways, I hope that I will equally have an impact on children’s literature. And I already know the exact impact I want to have;
to dignify, to celebrate, to see, and to listen.
One story at a time.