When you say the name Dr. Seuss, for most people, weird-looking cartoons and metered rhymes come to mind.
—Missouri officer charged for accidentally shooting Black woman with Gun instead of Taser—
Dr. Seuss books, written by Theodor Geisel, has become cult classics with beloved stories like The Cat in the Hat landing on millions of children’s book shelves around the nation.
But author Brian Jay Jones explores a seedier side to the writer that explores Geisel’s racist and misogynistic cartoons that the cartoonist didn’t seem to be ashamed of, The Daily Mail reports.
The book, Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination, is “a candid re-examination of the author beloved by millions for his nonsense verse and vivid cartoons.”
That intimate look at Geisel includes cartoons that mocked Black people who were depicted as monkey-like and with big red lips. Geisel spewed the n-word like it was water. He also apparently had disdain for women and often described them as “insignificant and helpless,” says the new book coming out next Tuesday.
His cartoons revealed a series of prejudices against minorities.
During the 1940s, Geisel reportedly drew a cartoon with Japanese people picking up explosives to bomb America.
—Miss North Carolina Cheslie Kryst, a lawyer who defends prison inmates pro bono, crowned Miss USA—
When confronted about the racist cartoon he defended it saying: “If we want to win we’ve got the kill the Japs.”
So should schools ban Dr. Seuss?