As a general rule, I favour leaving older books with now-questionable content as they are.
Books aimed at children are, however, a distinct issue. Children generally don’t have the capacity/historical context to reckon with such stuff properly.
kingofzdom on
To censor is to pretend it didn’t happen.
Also, the hell are we talking about? Racist dr sues books? My brother in christ he was advocating in Europe YEARS before it was socially acceptable to do so on the grounds of “racism is very very bad”
ULessanScriptor on
A Chinese man with chopsticks… is offensive now?
Ok-Requirement-8415 on
Where racism?
happy-cig on
I must live under a rock but what are the examples on the anti asian racism?
These-Background4608 on
I don’t believe in banning books. Yes, there were a few of Seuss’ early works that were indeed products of their time and feature harmful stereotypes. It’s good that the Seuss estate puts those particular books out of circulation. If a parent or child comes across one of those books, then they can make the choice to either let their child read or not read that book and end up teaching their child about stereotypes. This doesn’t mean that we should cancel Seuss and the rest of his bibliography all because of a few problematic books.
double_teel_green on
Never censor. The language has changed and we know that. Leave it all in there.
Horror_Guard_3822 on
Not generally, no.
I mean, I could see how it would be inappropriate to read certain books to young children as an educator, because you don’t want to pass along bad ideas.
But I don’t think these books should disappear. Some old classic movies give notice to point out problematic elements at the beginning.
Something similar could be done with books.
Education is key.
LordAcorn on
A company deciding to stop printing certain books isn’t censorship.
jerseysbestdancers on
He has so many unproblematic books. We should just let the others fall out of print. Almost all of them are really hard to find anyway, at least when I was building my classroom collection eons ago.
Surturius on
imo, I’m fine with a censored option being available for parents. classic novels often have “abridged” versions that cut out half the story, and nobody loses their minds over that.
entertainmentlord on
wasn’t the whole issue was the company decided to stop publishing the books?
the books im sure still around in stores and libraries, but i think it should not be called full on censorship
Kooky_Recognition_34 on
No wtf. Books should never be censored. If you don’t want to read it, then don’t read it.
Wolf_ZBB_2005 on
Not censor, just educate on why it’s problematic, and encourage more inclusive media and media aimed to resonate with marginalized groups. It’s a relic of a by-gone era, and I think censoring it is effectively saying, “nah, this didn’t happen.”
YakSlothLemon on
The problem is the assumption that this material actually harms children. If it is offensive to some children, then absolutely, I think it’s OK not to have the books in a school library.
But the idea that books can teach kids to be racist — I grew up on Harper Lee and Mark Twain and all the rest of it, and can testify that how kids understand that material really relies on the parents. If your parents aren’t racist, the odds of you suddenly becoming racist because you read Tom Sawyer or look at Green Eggs and Ham is zero.
The assumption that kids don’t understand the difference between fantasy and reality is unsupported as well. As the child in that interview says, why would you think the Chinese man with the chopsticks in Green Eggs and Ham is some kind of real literal character when nothing else in the book is?
AllenbysEyes on
Are we still arguing about Dr. Seuss in 2025?
I don’t think anyone really wants to “cancel” Dr. Seuss as a whole – all the discussion is about specific books that feature the stereotypes. (I’m going to guess few if any kids are scrolling up his WWII cartoons.) Nobody is coming after Green Eggs and Ham, or at least nobody of significance. Since Seuss’s estate has let the books in question fall out of print, that ought to be the end of discussion.
AlicesFlamingo on
*should we censor*
No.
WhatIsASunAnyway on
Is this like reaction bair or something?
SubstantialPressure3 on
I don’t think we should censor or change them. I think they should be left as they are. But I don’t think they are appropriate for little kids.
When the child is old enough to understand the discussion, then bring out one of those books and talk about it.
some of that was actually WW2 propaganda. So, historical context is needed.
Print the books with a warning/notice on the first page that there are negative depictions of certain peoples/cultures and how it was wrong then, and it is still wrong now.
It’s up to the adult who procures the book for the child to explain what that means.
Censorship shouldn’t mean ignoring past wrongdoings.
Kopextacy on
Whatever we do, we need to not forget our past so that we don’t go on repeating it down the road. I see a detrimental outcome from avoiding all things that cause offense. Sometimes overcoming obstacles is superior to finding safe spaces.
21 Comments
As a general rule, I favour leaving older books with now-questionable content as they are.
Books aimed at children are, however, a distinct issue. Children generally don’t have the capacity/historical context to reckon with such stuff properly.
To censor is to pretend it didn’t happen.
Also, the hell are we talking about? Racist dr sues books? My brother in christ he was advocating in Europe YEARS before it was socially acceptable to do so on the grounds of “racism is very very bad”
A Chinese man with chopsticks… is offensive now?
Where racism?
I must live under a rock but what are the examples on the anti asian racism?
I don’t believe in banning books. Yes, there were a few of Seuss’ early works that were indeed products of their time and feature harmful stereotypes. It’s good that the Seuss estate puts those particular books out of circulation. If a parent or child comes across one of those books, then they can make the choice to either let their child read or not read that book and end up teaching their child about stereotypes. This doesn’t mean that we should cancel Seuss and the rest of his bibliography all because of a few problematic books.
Never censor. The language has changed and we know that. Leave it all in there.
Not generally, no.
I mean, I could see how it would be inappropriate to read certain books to young children as an educator, because you don’t want to pass along bad ideas.
But I don’t think these books should disappear. Some old classic movies give notice to point out problematic elements at the beginning.
Something similar could be done with books.
Education is key.
A company deciding to stop printing certain books isn’t censorship.
He has so many unproblematic books. We should just let the others fall out of print. Almost all of them are really hard to find anyway, at least when I was building my classroom collection eons ago.
imo, I’m fine with a censored option being available for parents. classic novels often have “abridged” versions that cut out half the story, and nobody loses their minds over that.
wasn’t the whole issue was the company decided to stop publishing the books?
the books im sure still around in stores and libraries, but i think it should not be called full on censorship
No wtf. Books should never be censored. If you don’t want to read it, then don’t read it.
Not censor, just educate on why it’s problematic, and encourage more inclusive media and media aimed to resonate with marginalized groups. It’s a relic of a by-gone era, and I think censoring it is effectively saying, “nah, this didn’t happen.”
The problem is the assumption that this material actually harms children. If it is offensive to some children, then absolutely, I think it’s OK not to have the books in a school library.
But the idea that books can teach kids to be racist — I grew up on Harper Lee and Mark Twain and all the rest of it, and can testify that how kids understand that material really relies on the parents. If your parents aren’t racist, the odds of you suddenly becoming racist because you read Tom Sawyer or look at Green Eggs and Ham is zero.
The assumption that kids don’t understand the difference between fantasy and reality is unsupported as well. As the child in that interview says, why would you think the Chinese man with the chopsticks in Green Eggs and Ham is some kind of real literal character when nothing else in the book is?
Are we still arguing about Dr. Seuss in 2025?
I don’t think anyone really wants to “cancel” Dr. Seuss as a whole – all the discussion is about specific books that feature the stereotypes. (I’m going to guess few if any kids are scrolling up his WWII cartoons.) Nobody is coming after Green Eggs and Ham, or at least nobody of significance. Since Seuss’s estate has let the books in question fall out of print, that ought to be the end of discussion.
*should we censor*
No.
Is this like reaction bair or something?
I don’t think we should censor or change them. I think they should be left as they are. But I don’t think they are appropriate for little kids.
When the child is old enough to understand the discussion, then bring out one of those books and talk about it.
some of that was actually WW2 propaganda. So, historical context is needed.
https://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dswenttowar/
https://veteranlife.com/military-history/dr-seuss-political-cartoons
https://study.com/academy/lesson/dr-seuss-political-cartoons-explanation-analysis.html
Print the books with a warning/notice on the first page that there are negative depictions of certain peoples/cultures and how it was wrong then, and it is still wrong now.
It’s up to the adult who procures the book for the child to explain what that means.
Censorship shouldn’t mean ignoring past wrongdoings.
Whatever we do, we need to not forget our past so that we don’t go on repeating it down the road. I see a detrimental outcome from avoiding all things that cause offense. Sometimes overcoming obstacles is superior to finding safe spaces.