Dr. Seuss still part of Read Across America in Tri-Cities. Some books pulled for racist images
Thousands of Tri-Cities students celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday, even as some teachers were told not to emphasize his books.
March 2 is Read Across America Day, an event aimed at promoting reading to children. The National Education Association created the event in 1998 and deliberately aligned it with the children’s author’s birthday.
The national association has pivoted away from the author to focus on a larger scope of books.
While national organizers are not focusing on him, Tri-Cities school districts said they haven’t asked teachers not to read Seuss books.
Richland Schools used the hat from The Cat in the Hat to advertise two morning storytelling sessions.
In Pasco, Columbia River Elementary students had a Zoom reading of “Green Eggs and Ham” and the lunch menu features “green eggs and ham cookies.”
The district may not be issuing any directives, but some local teachers have told the Herald they were asked not to emphasize Seuss this year.
While Seuss’ books have been praised through the years for supporting tolerance and environmentalism, there is an increasing amount of criticism for how Blacks, Asians and others are depicted.
A 2019 study from the Conscious Kid Library and the University of California-San Diego found 2 percent of the human characters in the books were people of color, and many of those were Orientalist or were “aligned with the theme of anti-Blackness,” USA Today reported.
This comes as Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it is stopping publications of six titles, including “And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the Zoo,” according to the Associated Press.
The company, which was founded by the author’s family, decided to stop printing the books last year after months of discussion.
They took feedback from teachers, academics and specialists as part of reviewing the books, the publisher told the Associated Press.
“And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” shows an Asian person wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl. “If I Ran the Zoo” includes a drawing of two barefoot African men wearing what appears to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads.
Dr. Seuss was born Theodore Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Mass. in 1904. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, and last year he earned an estimated $33 million before taxes, according to AP.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 2:07 PM.