Some Dr. Seuss books going out of Print - Racist portrayals

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markz

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/02/dr-seuss-racist-imagery/

Dr. Seuss Enterprises will cease publication of some works that include “hurtful” portrayals of cultural stereotypes, the company announced Tuesday, on what would have been Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 117th birthday.

The famed children’s author, who has sold hundreds of millions of books across the globe, has been criticized for his racist depictions of people of color. Last year, after consulting educators and other experts, the company that manages the author’s work decided to discontinue six titles, including “If I Ran the Zoo,” “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “McElligot’s Pool.”

“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises, a division of Random House Children’s Books and Penguin Random House, did not immediately respond to a request from The Washington Post for additional details about the decision to stop printing the books.
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Edmonton Eskimo's (CFL) are no longer.

The club made the announcement Tuesday, after criticism from many in the Inuit community who said the name Eskimo was offensive.
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Potential up and comers
Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
 
It's not that they have something to gain from it, it's that they TELL THEMSELVES they do. The people in real life who work at being obnoxious to you tell themselves that they keep you off balance and somehow have the upper hand. (You notice I let them talk at first, then slowly unravel what they've told themselves are "Gains." They lose what they thought they already had.)

You get the political science explanation in the video. I simply put it that they want you despairing, confused, despairing, wondering what's next, despairing. More important than all that is the sense of loss and the DESPAIR it causes. The point is to make you give up. But give up WHAT, exactly?

If you read the Franz Kafka (Unfinished) novel 'The Trial,' our hero (Antihero, actually) does fine as long as he doesn't take his alleged 'Prosecution' seriously and maintains the upper hand. When he allows himself some concern and allows maybe he should cooperate, his downfall begins. After his efforts to demonstrate that he felt his disregard by going out an making his own life better while they threaten to destroy him, he can't maintain his great forward momentum because he allows them to sow doubt in him. So much of what the left does these days is so Kafkaesque these days.

So there's nothing wrong with the cartoon Chinese helping the kid create his fantasy zoo in 'If I Ran the Zoo.' The book, any or all of the work of Dr. Seuss, are not even soft targets, they are targets these people literally don't care about and don't feel failure if nothing happens when they start. But they imagine a great victory for themselves when the Dr. Seuss Foundation bows to them. It's not about the books or the illustrations, it's about people who say 'WE did that, WE forced them." And it's about you feeling helpless.

And this "They" isn't really a central group, it's a bunch of hangers on who set up their own little Duchy by choosing a target. Tyranny is NOT a tyrant at the top and the 99.999% being dominated. Tyranny is a TIERED system. Think of stacking cans in a pyramid. There's a can at the top with 4 beneath it. They support the top but they are supported by the 9 cans beneath and are the big boss to those underneath. And the 9 underneath are dominated from above but dominate those beneath them. Basically it's the same as Amway, right?

Thus do we have the internet terrorist group that are not the traditional independent trolls but instead flying monkeys, following the narcissists above them. There's the group the founders (Mr. Sulu, etc.) started, people downloaded their *.PDF they called something like the 'Action Toolkit' that explained about starting your own chapter and getting your own flying monkeys whom you would encourage to recruit more flying monkeys under them. This doesn't cost the big bosses anything. But boy are they gratified to see riots, burning of the affordable housing buildings, anything that causes despair that they caused to happen. Or at least they tell themselves they're pretty darn sure they caused it. They brag of millions of followers, I think they grossly exaggerate. But then maybe there's many who don't accomplish much in inflicting pain. Part of the beauty of this to them, because you can't really know, can you? Makes you feel despair, doesn't it?

It would be so laughable if it wasn't so ugly. (Well, at least I still manage to laugh.) Look at the one poster here posting "Burn it down." Ah yes, the great personal victory he feels if he did ANYTHING to contribute to a thread being locked, Biker Bar discontinued, etc. Or at least if he can tell himself he did. Then the one that rages that you're not doing what HE demanded. ("Yeah? So?" Can you guess whom I just quoted?) In no uncertain terms, these are people intending to do whatever damage they can to ES. Because they would consider that a great victory. To whom pettiness is its' own reward. Never mind that it doesn't really do them any good, what matters is they TELL THEMSELVES it does.

Just as taking Dr. Seuss books away from little kids who love them is a great victory from what few are determined to do it.

If you know the French and Indian War, where the French induce the allies of the English, the local Indians trading with the colonists, to turn on the British and fight them without so much help from the French. It worked well for awhile, until the Indians began to realize that the losses were theirs, the gains went to the French. The French lost their half of Canada over it, and more.

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If the foundation had not put out a press release would you have even noticed that these books were no longer being published?

There was no organised or even disorganized group of people calling for this. The Dr. Zeus foundation took a look at themselves and decided that some of the works were not fitting the image of Dr. Zeus when seen through a modern lens.

The existing books are not being destroyed, they just are not printing any new copies and I suspect that many of these titles were not very popular to begin with.

If you have never looked back at something you did when you were younger and cringed a bit then you are a far more perfect being than most of us.
 
helno said:
If the foundation had not put out a press release would you have even noticed that these books were no longer being published?
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Why, yes. And thank you for reminding that virtue signalling is about focusing attention all at once. Had the Foundation NOT sought attention and pats on the head, there would have been a slow process of the books not turning up when sought after. The first statement probably would have come from an organization representing the primary buyers of Seuss books, which are the libraries of this country. These books are very popular, the profits pay for there to BE a foundation that pays these virtue signallers so handsomely.

But virtue signalling seeks imaginary rewards, so they put out a request for admiration. If it was just about thinking something was wrong there would not have been a word said publicly. But library books are not forever, especially when kids handle them. Meanwhile, the further disorganized flying monkeys are bound to be off taking these books on 'Walkabout,' as the librarians call it.

helno said:
There was no organised or even disorganized group of people calling for this.
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If you are THAT out of touch with reality and continue to seek attention, you are a perfect example of the problem. I believe it was 5 years ago I was posting about some of the ever ongoing controversy created by these people you claim don't exist. I was posting right on this very board. The numerous statements the Foundation has issued over the years.

They do not like 'Green Eggs and Ham,' Sam I am. But that's his most popular book. As personally rewarding to them as it would be to end the literacy programs that Dr. Seuss is indeed the figurative foundation for, that's too tough and eggshell to crack, as the Foundation knows which side their green bread is green buttered on.

But which are you? My guess is disorganized. You see your opportunity and swoop in. You demonstrated how this works. It doesn't work well when someone speaks the truth about it, eh?

helno said:
If you have never looked back at something you did when you were younger and cringed a bit then you are a far more perfect being than most of us.
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If you've never looked back on a post like this and cringed at the taste in your mouth, then you find your foot to be the far more perfect food than I ever could.
 
I read a lot of Dr Seuss books as a child, and there are many anti-racist themes in the ones i read. It's one of the things i appreciated about his books most.

I think this trend of hiding our past is troublesome. Those who fail to learn from history end up repeating it.
 
neptronix said:
I think this trend of hiding our past is troublesome. Those who fail to learn from history end up repeating it.
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I don't really see this as hiding from the past.

Dr. Seuss made some really racist propaganda cartoons during WW2, they are no longer being printed and the reflection on that time is credited with the drive for inclusion in his later work.

Many of his most celebrated works might not exist if he had not learned from his own past.
 
I think it constitutes hiding our past because we remove evidence that America as a whole held some racist views which were never really challenged, during a time that the country was mostly white and also not connected or understanding of other peoples. It's not just America that held this mentality, of course. Racism runs rampant by default in any monoculture.

These views started to change in a big way after world war 2, when we collectively encountered peoples across the world and gained a better understanding of them.. and also defeated a guy who embedded racist thinking into his form of government. We saw how bad racism can get.. and this changed how so many people saw the world out side of the bubble of their culture.

This is an extremely important history lesson and shows us that racism is mostly born out of misunderstanding. And also an innate 'fear of other' which a deep instinct in nearly every creature that roams this earth.

I don't know Dr Seuss' history so well but i would imagine you're right about him having a change of heart. Removing evidence of that change removes evidence of a positive thing; a white man going.. 'you know what? i'm wrong, i'm sorry, and i want to correct it'.

Instead, we get the picture that Mr. Seuss was always anti-racist. It's whitewashing the truth and removing something really beautiful about the human mind that we should celebrate.

..a thing which could help navigate us through the difficult times we have today in becoming even more of a multi cultural society than we currently live in.


I would much rather see racism understood and examined, rather than the usual knee jerk response of labeling it as a moral failing and missing out on the opportunity to correct the issue in the process.
 
They are not removing the evidence of the past they are just no longer publishing or profiting off of it. Things stop being published for much more mundane reasons every day and no one bats an eye. If they had quietly stopped publishing it we likely would not be having this conversation.

You can still go online and see the racist cartoons that he published. There are entire books written about that exact subject and how it influenced him in later life. Not sure where you get the idea that this is an attempt to hide his past or whitewash things, if they wanted to do that they likely would not have issued a press release.

The discussion of this doesn't appear to be very open as a learning tool. One side is talking about hordes of flying monkeys being used as weapons to cancel anything that some "they" does not agree with while the other side is going yeah that was pretty shitty and I understand why they stopped doing it.
 
I bet their sales increased.

Search engine reveals:
Looks like sales are up 34%
the top sellers weren't even the books being withdrawn.
'The Cat in the Hat' sold more than 100,000 copies, compared to just 17,000 in the previous week. 'Green Eggs and Ham' topped 90,000 copies
 
helno said:
nicobie said:
^I consider this to be an insult.^ :(
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I consider the source.
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Good to see you two at least becoming more considerate to the most authoritative source here. I'll consider that progress.

So I posted here years ago about the old Dr. Seuss cartoons from his left wing days during World War II. Working in the left wing press he did much denouncing of racism even before the war began. There were some politically negative depictions of Germans and Italians that are ignored by today's virtue signalers, as well as a few about the Japanese they fly into estatic hysteria over. They fail to mention these were LEFT WING publications running these cartoons. Or that war time panic over that 'Mostly peaceful' flyover at Pearl Harbor had people acting like, well, ever heard of the "Battle of Los Angeles?" Flying monkeys like shrieking at cartoons to cover up real life violence, etc.

There was also cartoon work commissioned by the U.S. Government, which he continually took heat for. He also wrote the training films 'Your Job in Germany' and 'Our Job in Japan' on the occupation of the two defeated countries. The first of which was called "Bitter," "Angry," etc.; while the 2nd was called sympathetic. Eisenhower and Patton walked out in anger at the depiction of the sinister average German citizen, while MacArthur was incensed at the humanization of the Japanese. Seems par for the course for the three personalities involved.

What's funny is, it's straight out of the legendary 'The Monsters are Due on Maple Street.' NOW is the time to fly into an irrational rage at people who really haven't done anything and beat them to death. Oops, if the flying monkeys read that they'll probably take that as their cue.

People are buying the books in fear of never being able to get them again. But the way things are going you might have the Firemen from 'Fahrenheit 451' coming after them.

Rod Serling himself said:
The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices...to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill...and suspicion can destroy...and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own—for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.
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Book Burning.jpg

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They are buying the books to sell decades later in hopes of making a boombastic profit.

BTW Have you seen any of the new Twilight Zone shows? They are not good, even though I like Jordan Peele
 
None of the later versions were ever as good as the original. Because the original was a sincere effort to be interesting and new while the later versions are about self important people seeking attention.
 
Past10 minutes when he talks about the unusual architecture in the art, he should have said 'Escher.' Perhaps a major influence discovered.

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Dauntless said:
...that war time panic over that 'Mostly peaceful' flyover at Pearl Harbor...
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I did find this particularly funny, but why is the Dr Seuss thread going so long? The left leaning company took some books out of print to protect profits from their other Dr Seuss books. Sure it's absolutely ridiculous that EBay won't allow the sale of the titles in question, but we have more important things to discuss. How about Tyrant Pelosi's current attempt to replace a new legally elected GOP Representative with the Democrat who lost, just because the election was super close? Or the Tyrant wanting to impeach a SCOTUS judge? Or the Tyrant's unconstitutional attempt to change election laws?
 
You're getting right into the most fundamental part of their plan, which is to make you feel there's too much to deal with. Once they can give you the overwhelmed feeling, they tell themselves they have already won, and it certainly is a step in that direction. It is important to leave them feeling that they are failing at beating people into submission.

Oh, also, they're just gonna lock the thread when much is said about someone like Peloso anyway.
 
So I just happened to watch probably as close to the perfect video on it today. Thomas Sowell, the black economist being interviewed, is comparing the American Revolution to the French Revolution, one so bloody as it occurs yet stable afterward, while the other is a walk in the park but turns bloody later. Constrained and unconstrained. Very important stuff after the 10:00 mark but you need to watch the whole thing to get it.

Meanwhile Rand Paul is as close to being on the mark as he'll ever manage, difficult to listen to as always but he is right. If you really want to hear him too. . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdHS52u9KpI

[youtube]gVoDiVs0XpE[/youtube]
 
Dauntless said:
You're getting right into the most fundamental part of their plan, which is to make you feel there's too much to deal with. Once they can give you the overwhelmed feeling, they tell themselves they have already won, and it certainly is a step in that direction. It is important to leave them feeling that they are failing at beating people into submission.

Oh, also, they're just gonna lock the thread when much is said about someone like Peloso anyway.
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I'm not overwhelmed in the least. There are just so many important things that need talking about. Ignoring them to me is acceptance, and everyone's complacency is what has allowed things to progress to this state.
 
The-Commissar-Vanishes-July-2017.jpg


Yeah, but locking the thread is locking the thread, what can you do?

This week there was the update on the media smears of Tara Reid, the New York Times falsely claimed she had no degree, didn't go to law school, etc., lied about her at the cost of her job and career. So she has a law suit, sure, but will that get her life back? One of her old jobs denied she ever worked there because of the controversy, then were forced to admit she DID. The truth was being told as this was going on, but the New York Times pretended the fact that she was a survivor of domestic violence and had her legal tracks covered was PROOF she was up to no good. They are the loudest voice, aren't they? And there is nothing to stop them as they do it.

So we can talk about how all this was a coverup to keep Biden in the election, but does this get him out of the White House? Actually I DO think there is far more at stake with this canceling freedom of speech and of course erasing anything and anyone from the past when they want to. That is what Soviet Russia did, even from the old photos. As is said in '1984,' he who controls the present controls the past, he who controls the past controls the future.' That these actions so stripped the military of veteran leadership that Russia almost lost to Germany in the first days is not a lesson to our own government, who are purging the military of anyone they deem as wanting anything different in the government.

In this case, these people only burn books for the fun of it. Pelosi not only means far less, but what does it mean to talk about her, anyway?
 
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