ABILENE, TX – It was Tuesday on the 177th birthday of renowned children’s author Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, that Random House publishing announced six of his books would be discontinued due to racist imagery.
Lynn Barnett is the executive director of Abilene’s Cultural Affairs Council, the group responsible for filling Everman Park with timeless Seuss character statues. None of the statues featured in Everman Park appear in the books in question.
Barnett says she believes the Seuss Foundation and Random House are doing the right thing pulling the books.
“I think what they’re doing is the right thing, when you find something that is inappropriate, that’s offensive for whatever reason, then you don’t continue to publish those books.” said Barnett.
Some Abilenians also believe discontinuing was the right way to go.
“People say, ‘Oh, you know, it’s just that time period, we kind of just have to let it be there. I think that’s refusing to acknowledge how, even at that time, it wasn’t right.” said Hardin-Simmons University student Julianne House.
The books in question include “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “The Cat’s Quizzer,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “On Beyond Zebra!”
These were reviewed and sited to have racist depictions of mostly Asian, African, and African American people.
