If by any chance you’ve watched Fox News anytime in the past few days, you can get the impression that Dr. Seuss being “canceled” is America’s biggest news. You will probably not be surprised to learn that it is not that simple.
As Stephen Colbert explained in his Late Show monologue Tuesday night, Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to stop publishing six rather obscure titles by the iconic child author because they contain “racist and insensitive images”.
“It is a responsible movement on their part,” argued the host. “There was no clamor to shake the earth, but they recognize the impact that these images can have on readers, especially children, and are trying to fix it, because Dr. Seuss’ books must be fun for everyone – Black, white, straight, gay, star-studded and dull Sneetches, Loraxes, Barb-a-loots, all of Whoville’s Whos and the strange furious creature called Foo Foo the Snoo. “
Colbert continued to highlight only a few of Dr. Seuss’s books that “teach vital lessons to this day”, including anti-war Butter Battle Book, environmental Lorax and Hop on Pop, which “warns against the dangers of pop-hopping”.
“Dr. Seuss’s people listened to the criticism, thought it was reasonable and did what is called a change,” he added. “Or as it’s known on Fox News: cancel the culture.”
After reproducing a montage that only scratched the surface of how much Fox was obsessed with the story this week, culminating in a total collapse of Donald Trump Jr., Colbert said, “I’m not surprised that Don Jr. loves The cat in the hat, I have always believed that he can read at the high school level. Also, I think his father calls him and Eric ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two’. “
Finally, Colbert read aloud a new Seuss book, entitled “Oh, the books you can read”, which started: “So, the news in the book you heard today broke. And now you’re on the defensive for old Dr. Seuss. If you think your bookshelf has become a little more boring, consider these children’s books by people of color. “
“There are many new stories that you can find very good,” he continued, “as Imani Moon by Janay Brown-Wood. Want more suggestions? There is no need to maintain hope. Just take Firebird by Misty Copeland. And this one is the real McCoy, it’s the great book by Thomisha Booker Brown Boy Joy. There are a wide variety of books that will make you feel happy, like this one called Love Hair by Matthew A. Cherry. “
“So don’t be so demure, culturally, crying,” concluded Colbert. “Read these books after you take your head off your ass.”
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