Creatures of our Time (Follow Up)

 Creatures of our Time (follow up discussion)

My previous post of March 4, 2021 (Creatures of our Time) was also posted on Facebook, and it generated a little bit of discussion among a few of my friends. I'm copying the most salient contributions below, slightly edited and anonymous.

Friend 1 But, as I understand the issue, the good Dr depicted Asian Americans with slanted eyes - as was the typical "norm" at that time. Any chance to correct or fix his work would basically ruin it. Time to walk away.

Me That's one thought. But what do we mean by walking away? Could re-issued books include new illustrations? Or introductory sections discussing the controversy? I don't know the answer. Similar to the idea of tearing down Confederate statues vs. relocating them in museums, I guess. One action is "erasing" while the other is acknowledging the problem while at the same time recognizing that these were historical figures, representing an era, or a moment, in history.

Me After I posted this, I went into the kitchen and opened the paper (we get the WSJ), and I noticed an op-ed on the subject. The author agrees that Geisel's early work did, indeed, depict stereotypically racist images but that later, during WWII, he changed. He (the author) concludes by making essentially the point I'm trying to make. "Our country's history is filled with imperfect people who nevertheless did remarkable things." 

 

Friend 1 Good article. But unlike the furor over the use of the "N word " in the classic To Kill A Mockingbird, which is set in the South in 1935 (there was a heated and unsuccessful push to ban the book), Dr Seuss' use of the drawings of slant eyed Asian-Americans is not critical to the storyline. 

Me: True. Speaking of Asian stereotypes, has there been similar banning of Breakfast at Tiffany’s? I get really uncomfortable watching Mickey Rooney’s character, Mr. Yunioshi. I know there has been general criticism. But no furor, as you put it.

Friend 1 Not that I know of. And Jerry Lewis portrayed Asian stereotypes (buck teeth, thick glasses, fake accents in "The Geisha Boy") for many years. Part of the "accepted" and intrinsic racism. 

Friend 2 As I understand it, moving forward, the publisher has decided to no longer print 6 of the 60 Seuss titles that had stereotypes that (I hope) we no longer condone. No one is attempting to crucify or “cancel” Dr. Seuss. And no one is asking any of us to throw away any books we cherish. This whole thing seems to be a brouhaha over little to nothing.

Me I'm surprised that you as an educator would minimize this story by calling it a brouhaha. Book banning used to be something liberals once condemned. Those days are gone, apparently. Your point about the decision being made by the Seuss Enterprises makes the story even more insidious. Self-censorship--anticipating the consequences of cultural judgment and acting proactively--is simply surrendering to cultural bullying.

Friend 2 It is not censorship when a company decides to change their products on their own to adapt to a changing marketplace. It is not bullying when a large portion of that market simply notes the product has some issues that are offensive to them. This is not surrender. It’s our capitalist system at work. How would you like the company to respond?

Me How about designing a whole curriculum around the concept of changing values over history through the prism of children’s literature? Teach, for instance. Educate. Don’t tear down (statues, literature, art, music), don’t erase history. Learn from it.  

Friend 3: So how do you depict Asians in painted pictures? Or any other culture? Should we all be the same? Sounds like the extinction of humanity.

Me: I'm not exactly sure I understand your question, but in the context of this conversation, I guess we have to agree that stereotyping people is always wrong. None of us belongs to a "category" that can be easily defined or portrayed. Artists and writers need to focus on authenticity--one person, in one moment, unique, individual. No pre-defined characteristics. That was the problem last century, which is what we're talking about. Unfortunately, I'm not sure anything has changed. There was a brief moment in the mid sixties when it appeared we might free ourselves from categorizing and stereotyping. Dr. King offered a vision of a color-blind society which now is being jettisoned by the so-called antiracists. We're back to being defined by skin color, relegated, once again, to categories. While I don't think this presages the extinction of humanity, it probably presages the end of MLK's dream.