No, Dr. Seuss has not been cancelled

Carol Reid, in her commentary “Dr. Seuss in cross-hairs,” April 4, rather broadly assigns responsibility to “the left” and “the woke brigade” for the controversy surrounding several of Dr. Seuss’ works. In fact, the responsibility belongs to the family of Theodor Seuss Geisel.

It has been widely publicized that it was they, and the board of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, who decided to cease publication of the books in question. It seems they are uncomfortable with presenting children with unflattering, stereotypical caricatures of other cultures — or, more humiliatingly, of their own.

Reid rightly advises that we must try to avoid judging the past by the standards of the present (“presentism”) and apply “open minds” to our consumption of these works, but those are the complex, critical-thinking skills of adults. The primary Seuss audience is young children who generally cannot contextualize representations in the respective social mores of time and place; they just see Black people in grass skirts, and Chinese people in conical hats, running around with chopsticks.

These clownish depictions reinforce degrading and antiquated stereotypes that are best left in the past and no longer served up to the young, impressionable minds of today. No one has cancelled Dr. Seuss; there remains a vast body of work for all to enjoy. It is the right of the Geisel family to de-emphasize content that they feel is inappropriate for children by today’s standards.

Susan Collins

Albany