Dr. Seuss has taught generations of children to read with such beloved classics as The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham.
His perennial graduation gift, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, was No. 2 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list as recently as June.
But now the late Theodor Seuss Geisel and his picture books are in the crosshairs of the culture wars, after a Massachusetts school librarian rejected first lady Melania Trump’s donation, claiming the Seuss titles were racist and unneeded.
A Seuss museum in Springfield, Mass., the author’s hometown, says it will replace a mural featuring a Chinese character from And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. The 1937 book, in which a young boy concocts an elaborate story about what he sees while on a walk, included an illustration of an Asian male running while carrying a bowl of rice and chopsticks while dressed in a silk robe, coolie hat and platform sandals.
The museum’s decision came after three authors said they would boycott an event due to the “jarring racial stereotype.”
What do the Seuss experts say? Are his admittedly eccentric works racist?
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