Pushing Back

I’ve Seen Cancel Culture And This Isn’t It

When conservatives tried to silence Ice-T, they threatened the lives of record company employees and the police applied pressure to his fans.

“I’ll hunt in the mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant

With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant.”

- Dr. Seuss, If I Ran The Zoo

In a society that is evolving, looking back is sometimes going to be uncomfortable. Images and prose that were once considered acceptable or even commonplace in the times that they were created can be seen as hateful and propagating bigotry in a modern context now that the sins of the past are recognized.

While Theodor Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Suess, tackles themes that are embraced by liberals in books like The Lorax, The Sneetches, and Green Eggs and Ham, he was not immune from the effects of the culture that existed around him. In several of his books, he included imagery and words that are clearly bigoted using today’s standards. This includes illustrations that overemphasize…