2018 School Spending Survey Report
New Study Published on Racism and Dr. Seuss
Paper published in Research on Diversity in Youth Literature questions representation in Dr. Seuss's children's books. Researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens cited racist and other problematic depictions in classic Seuss picture books, ranging from The Sneetches to Horton Hears a Who!.
Research on Diversity in Youth Literature (RDYL) has published a new study on racism in Dr. Seuss books. In “The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss's Children's Books,” published in the February issue of RDYL, researchers Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens looked at 50 books and more than 2,200 characters written by Theodor Geisel over 70 years "to evaluate the claims that his children’s books are anti-racist," according to the paper.
Dr. Seuss’s stories—such as The Sneetches and Horton Hears a Who!—are often considered to be tales of tolerance and acceptance. Even those who admit to racist depictions in some early political cartoons often excuse Theodor Geisel as a man whose behavior was a "product of his time." They speak of him as someone who rejected those racist or anti-Semitic beliefs later in life. Ishizuka [who is a cousin of SLJ executive editor Kathy Ishizuka] and Stephens put the legend to the test by thoroughly examining the texts and character depictions.
The researchers looked at how and to what extent non-white characters are depicted in Dr. Seuss’ children’s books.
"We designed our study to provide important insights into the manner and extent to which White characters and characters of color are portrayed, and assess their implications to the development and reinforcement of racial bias in young children,” the paper said.
What the authors found did not support Dr. Seuss’s most ardent supporters:
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“In the fifty Dr. Seuss children’s books, 2,240 human characters are identified. Of the 2,240 characters, there are forty-five characters of color representing two percent of the total number of human characters. The eight books featuring characters of color include: The Cat’s Quizzer: Are YOU Smarter Than the Cat in the Hat?;Scrambled Eggs Super!; Oh, the Places You’ll Go!; On Beyond Zebra; Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo; If I Ran the Zoo; And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street; and Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? "Of the forty-five characters of color, forty-three are identified as having characteristics aligning with the definition of Orientalism. Within the Orientalist definition, fourteen people are identified by stereotypical East Asian characteristics and twenty-nine characters are wearing turbans. Characters aligned with Orientalism are sometimes attributed an ethno-racial identity, but are generally situated within a colorblind lens, often from an unspecified nationality, race, or ethnicity. Only two of the forty-five characters are identified in the text as “African” and both align with the theme of anti-Blackness. “White supremacy is seen through the centering of Whiteness and White characters, who comprise 98% (2,195 characters) of all characters. Notably, every character of color is male. Males of color are only presented in subservient, exotified, or dehumanized roles. This also remains true in their relation to White characters. Most startling is the complete invisibility and absence of women and girls of color across Seuss' entire children’s book collection.” |
When humans weren’t involved, the findings weren’t any more positive.
“In addition, some of Dr. Seuss' most iconic books feature animal or non-human characters that transmit Orientalist, anti-Black, and White supremacist messaging through allegories and symbolism. These books include The Cat in the Hat; The Cat in the Hat Comes Back; The Sneetches; and Horton Hears a Who!”
In posting the paper on social media, the researchers wrote, “Almost every book and biography on Seuss's work to-date has been done by white researchers. As scholars of color, this article is unique in that it is written by members of groups Seuss explicitly degraded and dehumanized across his hundreds of racist works. We also write from our positionality as scholar-parents of children of color, and discuss how that informs our work and advocacy—not only a personal level, but a national policy level.”
This research builds on previous work by the paper's authors. They are not the only scholars to look at the issue of Dr. Seuss and racism. In 2017, Kansas State University English professor Phillip Nel published a book Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism in Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, which examines The Cat in the Hat ’s roots in blackface minstrelsy.
As more have broached the topic, objections have surfaced and some changes have been made in reading programs. Last year, the National Education Association's national Read Across America program moved away from its decades-old familiar Dr. Seuss theme to focus on diversity.
The entire RDYL paper is available to download for free. RDYL is a peer-reviewed, online, open-access journal hosted by St. Catherine University’s Master of Library and Information Science Program and University Library. It is published twice a year.
layla rivera says
THIS IS COMPLETELY WRONG!!! you rarely ever see a human character in Dr. seuss books and who cares if there isnt that many colored characters?? not kids i should know, there all good books and very well made and in think you being racist. Thank you and goodnight!!
Carole Santaquilani says
This study is a good example of how we live in a period when there is a hyper-focus on racism. In this case, in a children's classic. As if declaring it, in the manner of a SJW, in every corner of society, justifies dismissing any good there is, in the work, itself.
Karen Zacca says
zacca.karen@gmail.com
Karen Zacca says
Having grown up reading almost all of his books and reading them again to my children I can honestly say that there isn't one time I can think that I said to myself, 'why aren't there more girls in his books'? Equally, I never questioned, "is he making a commentary on some race or another?" Children do not innately have the sophisticated reasoning needed to see racism and microaggressions, and I don't believe they take away more than the obvious moral/ethical lessons taught in the books. Their little brains can only assimilate so much knowledge on their own. They may see them now because adults have told them to read into the books something more than the author intended. In our culture today we are teaching them to look back and see the previous cultures in the worst possible light instead of looking back and seeing them with grace. This, in my opinion, is not helpful to them as individuals who will grow up looking for the worst in the world and their fellow men and women rather than the best. Ironically, that is what Dr. Seuss was trying to teach the children of his generation - see the best in others, treat them as if they are the best versions of themselves. Why are we now seeking to judge him and his work based on a culture that didn't exist when he was producing his work.
If our children truly embraced all of the morals he attempted to get across in his books I firmly believe there would be a clear and very positive effect on how people treated each other today.
Shiori Sheldon says
I agree with you. In this article, it references "The Sneetches" as being White Surpremisis and giving Anti-Black messages. Upon rereading this book as an educated adult it is plain to see that this book has the same looking characters and does not give off these characteristics the article is speaking of. The point of the book is that they are all the same and thus giving an anti-racism message.
Sue Smith says
I was just curious if you looked into books by african-American authors to see how many characters are not African-American? Proportionally authors write about what they know and who they know . Think about it.
E C says
It seems to me that people just want to find race in everything. These are fictional characters, sure there are som humans in his stories, but wow! It’s a sad state we live.
Patti Strom says
I am amazed! When completing a study such as this, one should always have a diverse panel. By the admission of the article, the panel ( regardless of what they say they set out to do) was not diverse enough to do it. I suppose that next people will be burning books like Old Yeller because they will say that depicts “country folk” in a bad light or “Gone with the Wind” because people of color in that book were depicted in a racist manner. I get the point you wanted to make.... but it holds no water because your study group was not diverse. To me that seems a little racist that only people of color participated and that someone actually published such a biased article at which point extremists have started riding the coattails. Just a few more questions. Were the authors of this study trained in Psychology? Did they ask a psychologist who is trained in being raised racist? Did they ask Dr. Seuss himself about the whys? Or did they wait until he couldn’t speak for himself, bring a non diverse group together who apparently have no idea about being raised during his childhood, not bother to ask a psychologist about the profound effect it has on one’s psyche even when you think it doesn’t and go on to publish an article that will send radical behaviors right over the edge? Please understand that I take neither side but am more likely to side with Dr. Seuss simply because sometimes a non example is the best example. Teaching children what not to do is so easy when an example and reason has been provided. This article however should be teaching adults what not to do!!!
Janet Smith says
JANETSFREE@GMAIL.COM
brook ell says
hi
brook ell says
hi
aoak skejej says
Search “Dr. Seuss racist” and it displays pictures from his books with the n word in it & a picture of selling “slaves”. This situation does have to do with race. Whether you want to believe it or not.
Ronald Robinson says
I hear what you're saying, however, being born 10 years ago or 100 years ago, racism is wrong no matter how you want to excuse it. It was wrong then, and its still wrong now. In history books I've read in high school did not full describe the major contributions African-Americans or any other minority has to make "America Great". We as a race of people have contributed so much but have only been given back so little, we're still marginalizes in society. To have to have laws that says we could vote when it's already in our constitution, but now there's a move to quietly roll that back or erode some of the protections for all people of color. The movie "Hidden Figures", is a sad indictment of America. Can you just imagine the thousands and thousands of young black girls and boys seeing proof that black people can preform and and do the jobs white men that could do. Why was this kept a secret? I know the answer, do you?
Nolan Conn says
nolanconn13@gmail.com
Nolan Conn says
Dude leave it alone u guys are thinking about it way to much if anything he was a product of his generation.... he made memories for children of all generations. He is not racist. And u are just fucken annoying for even putting time into accusing a man that isn't alive to defend himself.He is not racist
B G says
This study is incredibly biased, analytically questionable, and statistically flawed. For example, they claim there are 44 white characters in "The Cat in the Hat Come Back" when, in fact, there are only two, the brother and sister. The authors have counted (not even correctly, I might add) the number of times a white face appears on the page as a separate "character". This allows them create a false statistic of the scale of inequality.
When "analyzing" each classic book, the authors continually refer back to Dr. Seuss's past, racist work, that had nothing to do with his children's books. This is the only way they can make his classic books appear racist, not from any actual content in the books.
There is a lot of terrible racism in America, it's a shame these authors wasted their efforts in manufacturing their own instead of tackling the real problems that people of color face.
B G says
In addition, the authors' conveniently failed to include the book Dr. Seuss's book that celebrates cultures around the world, "Come Over to My House."
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