Recently, Dr Seuss Enterprises announced that they would not
be reprinting six of Seuss’ books because they contained racist imagery. To be honest, if you had held a gun to my
head the only one I would have been able to tell you was a Seuss book was To
Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
My reaction was “well that makes sense” and I honesty can’t tell you if
I read any of the books on the list. I
mean, the chances of them being read to me when I was child are high, but I
have no memory of them. I remember other Seuss books quite well – and
I always preferred Horton to the Cat.
The
reaction was well mixed. Some people applauded the choice, some shrugging, and
the most vocal complaining about cancel culture. As those vocal people also for the most part
support a capitalist driven society, this screaming of cancel culture and the Gestapo
didn’t make sense because it is a private company making a decision about the
rights of something they own. It also
didn’t make sense because the nasty part of me wonders if those people ever
read a book.
Of
course, that thought is particularly nasty and mean spirited. We all have childhood books and other forms
of media that we love and have fond memories of, that we went to share with
those children in our lives. It might
not even be those things from our childhood.
The thing is, however, is that we should not be blind to the faults in
those things.
One of
the fondest memories I have of reading as a child are the Asterix books. Yet, when I revisit them as an adult, I
wince. The depictions of Africans in the
books is racist. Dark skin, big,
red, thick lips and the characters while
largely walk ones are usually dumb. There
is also a reason why I haven’t re-read The Little House Books in part because I
am sure that my view them will have shifted greatly.
The
wrestling with problematic children books also ties to the canon, the literary
canon however you want to vaguely define that.
Before the Dr Seuss decision, there was a review of Harold Bloom’s
posthumous book about reading that appeared in the New York Times Book Review. The telling thing about both Bloom’s book
which extolls, rightly, the importance of rereading, largely mentions white men
with some white women thrown in, and only two people of color. And the review also cites Bloom’s comments
that he disregard ( and thought Obama was wrong) that Morrison was equal to
Shakespeare.
Which
was interesting being read shortly after reading James Baldwin’s remarks on
Toni Morrison as well as Vanessa Baden Kelly’s “Unreliable Narrator” essay in
her book Far Away From Close to Home.
People
seem to feel that by adding to the canon, you are taking away from it. That by acknowledging that some books are
racist, sexist, problematic you are directly trying to cancel them. This isn’t true. But society changes. It is true that some things are timeless, but
let’s be honest. How many teens in high
school today give a fuck about Holden Caulfield thinks? Or really, why read Hemingway who only seemed
to think women were good to fuck when there is James Baldwin out there – a classic
by any standard and who speaks more about today then Hemingway and Salinger? Why not read Toni Morrison who made, who
demanded that a whole segment of the American population be seen? If we are going to ask to students to read Slaughterhouse
Five, and we should, shouldn’t we also point out Vonnegut’s comments when
asked about his source being a Holocaust Denier? If part of what the choice of books in
schools is suppose to do, install a love of reading, then the choices must be
better, they need to speak to people not just white men and women.
And yes,
that means changing the “canon” or the assigned readings. That means being aware of what can inflict
harm on students. It means teaching with
context. It means adjusting and looking
at with a critical eye. People who read tend
to have more empathy and more critical thinking. Teaching reading at pre-college level isn’t
just teaching culture, but teaching that.
Notes –
Baldwin said of Toni Morrison (well, one of the things he
said of Toni Morrison), “She’s taken a whole lot of things and turned them
upside down. Some of them – you recognize
the truth in it. I think that Toni’s
very painful to read . . .but she’s got the most believing story of everybody –
this rather elegant matron whose intentions really are serious and, according
to some people, lethal”. (from Quincy Trope’s “Last Interview with
James Baldwin”. Kindle edition, loc
1227).
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