Seuss erasure is just the beginning

I do not like green eggs and ham

I do not like their colors, ma’am

I only sup on rainbow fish

I like a multi-colored dish

I will not swallow things too white

But chocolate milk is a delight

And Black-eyed peas are really nice I’ll eat them ma’am I’ll eat them twice I think the thing that matters most

Is making people not feel gross

And saying what they want to hear For if we don’t They’ll surely sneer So even though I will not eat Green eggs and ham

I’ll say they’re neat Because I do not want to be The Grinch who stole Diversity.

Dr. Seuss might not appreciate my rhyming skills, but I would at least hope he’d recognize the irony in my ode to inclusion. The legendary author, whose birthday was last week, spent a lifetime teaching children about the importance of accepting those who were different, of avoiding bullying, of opening our arms to those who looked, sounded, and acted differently from people in our comfort zone. For children, he was a safe haven, a kindly guide through the often complicated, sometimes challenging, always memorable days of awakening.

And in spite of that, some of his books have now been placed on the “canceled list,” because of pressures from the cultural left, which fears that little children will perceive the same racism in his fanciful illustrations as their triggered guardians have now done.

Theodore Geisel was a man who railed against the exclusionary, xenophobic tendencies of his countrymen during World War II. While “patriots” like Charles Lindbergh and, for a time, FDR, were opposed to entering the war because of a desire to isolate the United States against impending danger, Geisel wrote editorial cartoons supporting the war effort and urging Americans to buy war bonds. While some of those cartoons contained certain ethnic tropes of Asians (we were fighting the Japanese) they also depicted the German enemy as Nazi “beasts.”

Some of his cartoons, particularly the ones about the Japanese, used racial stereotypes that would never be accepted today in mainstream literature. But this was wartime propaganda, and needs to be examined in that context.

And that is exactly what should be done when it comes to children’s literature, as well.

Some of the illustrations in six books that the Seuss foundation has decided to throw down the memory hole contained pictures that might, if you stretch the point, make some adults uncomfortable, including coloring some Asian characters in bright yellow.

But it is hard to believe that children would be perceptive enough (translated as “looking for racism enough”) to be offended by what are, essentially, cartoon characters. And this idea that we need to scrub old texts to make sure that even the most delicate soupcon of offensive non-P.C. material must be hidden is the quiet secondcousin of censorship.

You can argue that it’s only six books out of hundreds in a lifetime of achievement, but we are only at the beginning. Once you start down that path, you tend to accelerate, not act with caution.

So as I told some friends, I expect we’ll see some more “kindler, gentler editing” along these lines in the near future:

“Horton Hears a Who” will be labeled “ableist,” as soon as they figure out that deaf children will be offended.

“The Cat in the Hat” will be labeled “classist” by those who are upset that this particular cat has a hat. What about kids without enough money for accessories? Nice way to shame them.

“Oh the Places You’ll Go” will be deemed “xenophobic,” since there’s that subtle suggestion of, you know, deporting kids.

“The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” will be found to be borderline bigoted. I mean, just “assuming” that green kids are more inclined to a life of crime than kids of other colors is repellent. What about teal blue munchkins?

“Green Eggs And Ham?” How dare they? What about vegan kids? “Sam I Am.” Transphobic. I mean, what if Sam identifies as a “they?” Sam They Are is much more inclusive.

Go ahead and laugh. The tears can wait their turn.