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By Kelly Sadler – The Washington Times<\/p>\n
ANALYSIS\/OPINION:<\/strong><\/p>\n Another day, another cancellation.<\/p>\n Yesterday, it was Mr. Potato Head. Today, it\u2019s Dr. Seuss<\/a>.<\/p>\n March 2 marks Read Across America Day, a national recognition of Dr. Seuss\u2019 birthday for more than 20 years. Now, a liberal educator group dubbed \u201cLearning for Justice\u201d is demanding Dr. Seuss<\/a>\u2018 books be stripped from school libraries because of their \u201cracial undertones.\u201d<\/p>\n The Daily Wire reported districts such as Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia have already told its teachers to \u201cavoid connecting Read Across America Day with Dr. Seuss<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRealizing that many schools continue to celebrate \u2018Read Across America Day\u2019 in partial recognition of Dr. Seuss\u2019 birthday, it is important for us to be cognizant of research that may challenge our practice in this regard,\u201d Loudoun County Schools said in an announcement as reported by the Daily Wire. \u201cAs we become more culturally responsive and racially conscious, all building leaders should know that in recent years there has been research revealing radical undertones in the books written and the illustrations drawn by Dr. Seuss<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Um, what? Are the Whos down in Whoville too White?<\/p>\n Yes, apparently, they are.<\/p>\n After reading 50 of Dr. Seuss<\/a>\u2019 books, many of which were written in the 1950s, Learning for Justice found of the 2,240 identified human characters, there were only 45 of color and 43 of those \u201cexhibited behaviors and appearances that align with harmful and stereotypical Orientalist tropes.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning for Justice found Dr. Seuss<\/a>\u2019 books are plagued with \u201corientalism, anti-Blackness, and White supremacy.\u201d Additionally, too many of the non-White characters are male.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Book banning in our public schools has become all too common \u2014 and terrifying.<\/p>\n Last year, Burbank Unified School District in California banned five classic novels from being taught in their curriculum: Harper Lee\u2019s \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird,\u201d Mark Twain\u2019s \u201cThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,\u201d John Steinbeck\u2019s \u201cOf Mice and Men,\u201d Theodore Taylor\u2019s \u201cThe Cay\u201d and Mildred D. Taylor\u2019s Newbery Medal-winning young-adult classic \u201cRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.\u201d<\/p>\n The calls to ban were similar to that of Dr. Seuss<\/a> \u2014 they caused potential harm to the public school\u2019s Black children because of their racial undertones. All but \u201cHuckleberry Finn\u201d was required reading.<\/p>\n