"Why Dr. Seuss Is Worth Defending": https://reason.com/2021/03/08/dr-seuss-defend-cancel-culture-toronto-books-censorship/ Oh, the extreme places they'll go. Last week, when Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it would no longer publish six Seuss books said to contain racially offensive imagery, foes of cancel culture (this author among them) cried foul. Many others shrugged, noting correctly that this isn't an issue of censorship: A book publisher is free to decide it wants to cease publishing a very old book. But now those books are being pulled from the shelves of some public libraries as well. "We are part of the broader community who have identified these books as being harmful," Manny Figueiredo, director of education for a school board in Ontario, Canada, said in a statement. "The delivery of education must ensure that no child experiences harm from the resources that are shared." A journalist for the Toronto Star issued an impassioned plea for more libraries to take action—and for Dr. Seuss Enterprises to make amends for its historical failures. It's not just Canada: The Chicago Public Library system agreed to remove the six books in question—And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot's Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, If I Ran the Zoo, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat's Quizzer—pending an investigation. Disappearing books from library shelves gets us closer to the classic example of censorship, though of course a physical library possesses a finite amount of space and thus has to consider certain priorities. What's happening to Dr. Seuss is the result of a very specific kind of prioritization, however: One decided upon not by readers or the public at large, but by activist educators peddling a false narrative about the beloved child author's books and characters. This narrative—the result of a highly misleading 2019 report on "Orientalism, anti-blackness, and white supremacy in Dr. Seuss's children's books"—has quickly become influential, motivating much of the recent shift away from Seuss among certain government officials, educators, libraries, and even private publishers. Learning for Justice, an outgrowth of the undeservedly well-regarded Southern Poverty Law Center, cited the report as evidence that it had misjudged The Sneetches, a Seuss story about a group of birds—some with stars on their bellies, some without—who eventually come to realize that their superficial physical differences don't matter at all: They actually had it right the first time. But nonracism—the idea that skin color should be overlooked—has lost popularity among progressive activists, and anti-racism—the idea that skin color matters a great deal—is in vogue. The former is an egalitarian message at the heart of many Dr. Seuss books; the latter is a smokescreen for all sorts of policies that have very little to do with combating racism: like abolishing standardized tests or spending more time renaming schools than reopening them. There is certainly no obligation to read or teach Dr. Seuss, nor should Seuss defenders feel some moral or practical imperative to gloss over his imperfections. The man did draw racist caricatures, and some of his work can be read as a defense of Japanese internment. He was a flawed genius—but a genius nonetheless, and a towering figure in the world of children's literature. There is a disturbing trend among modern liberalism to seek to cast out all such flawed figures, which has the rest of us reasonably worried that no art or artist more than a few years old can possibly stand the test of time. (For another example of this, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow recently accused Pepe Le Pew, the lovesick skunk from Looney Tunes, of perpetuating rape culture.) There's not really a law or policy that could fix this problem—though Sonny Bunch's proposal to release now unpublishable works into the public domain is an interesting one—and so much of the pro-Seuss grousing in nonliberal circles can feel as performative as the anti-Seuss extremism. Yet there's good reason in this case to regard the slippery slope with suspicion. The report that led to the cancellation of the six books also stipulates that The Cat in the Hat embodies a "racist tradition" and that Horton Hears a Who! "reinforces themes of white supremacy." I would not be surprised to find the entire Seuss canon under attack a few years from now. To quote the last lines of The Butter Battle Book, "Who's gonna drop it? Will you or will he?" (To which the narrator's grandpa replies: "Be patient. We'll see. We will see.")
@J.R. is fantastic in the GARM and NBA/Dish. We just disagree entirely when it comes to politics. I probably could have toned down my response, but his post blindsided me. It's a good example of why it would be great if @Clutch could make the "ignore" function "forum specific." There are several members I enjoy in the basketball forums and the other Hangout forums that I would rather not see here. Likely vice versa, as well. I would hope so.
Matt Yglesias on "Dr. Seuss as a policy issue" https://www.slowboring.com/p/dr-seuss-ip excerpt: I bring this all up because I think it’s relevant policy context for the recent controversy over Seuss Enterprises withdrawing six books from publication that were deemed problematic. Right-wing agitators have responded to this as if it’s the government censoring Dr. Seuss, and so out of solidarity with Dr. Seuss, they are buying non-canceled classics like “Green Eggs and Ham” in droves. But this is just not factual. Dr. Seuss has been dead for nearly 30 years. His heirs — likely these two stepdaughters, though that’s not entirely clear — canceled the books, and now are the ones reaping the financial rewards from the backlash to their own actions. The whole thing is perverse. And while it’s not the main problem with our current system of copyright, I do think it tends to illustrate the perversity of letting copyrights extend so long. more at the link
I suspect forum-specific ignores would be more work than it would be worth for Clutch and the admins. And for the handful of people I have on ignore (and have had for a long time), the reasons behind being ignored usually extends beyond a single forum (a few have posted racist posts in sports-related forums too). And I've had the posters on ignore long enough I have no interest in their insights on any topic anyway, so no loss. I just happily scroll past the ignore notification and read on... btw, the poster in question isn't on my ignore list.
What if @Clutch realizes he wants a basketball forum for Rockets fans instead of political site for radical thinking by a bunch of bored people?
This is the same idea for the basketball forum. Just remove the non Rockets fans. There are people here THAT NEVER POST about the Rockets. @Os Trigonum @Jontro Or make this section only available for SUPPORTING MEMBERS. I'm on here cause it's fun. here= Clutchfans, I don't see sections, I see the site as a whole entity.
Where would you spend the other 20% of your time devoted to Max Kellerman videos? Maybe you and NewRoxFan could start your own YT channel with the same format. You take the Kellerman role and NRF the Screamin’ A Smith role. I’ll supply the cheese doodles.
Well first thing is that I’m a 99er So if I team up , I’m only going with the best in the business like @DaDakota besides I know for sure DD is real Rockets fan
Sack up, ‘99er and take the plunge with NRF. Cheese Doodles hang in the balance. The two of you could even mail it in just recording a video of NRF posting tweets while you post Kellerman videos in response. Let’s end the ClutchFans Cold War, bring you both in from the cold and come together over some beers and Cheese Doodles.
I don't know why we bring NRF into this. He isn't a troll who has a extremely inflated opinion of himself.
Pfft What war? Dude can post all he wants and so can I I support the supporting members I hope he never stops posting @Os Trigonum
I’m just making an observation here. An outsized portion of the “debate & discussion” appears to be posting tweets or videos with a response of a tweet or a video. Nothing against NRF or our man made of tin.
https://ncac.org/news/dr-seuss-racism-publication STATEMENT ON REMOVAL OF DR. SEUSS BOOKS FROM PUBLICATION Previous The National Coalition Against Censorship is disturbed by the recent decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises to cease publication of six children’s books by Dr. Seuss because of their implicit racism. Our society is in the midst of a broad conversation about the racism embedded in many of our cultural touchstones. We need to acknowledge that many of the books that are part of America’s literary heritage express attitudes about race that may offend people. Almost all authors are influenced by the prejudices of their times. Dr. Seuss is no exception. However, we must draw a line between criticizing texts and purging them. If we remove every book that is offensive to someone, there will be very little left on the shelf. NCAC supports and celebrates efforts to diversify library holdings, expand the stories told through school curricula and encourage underrepresented voices to be heard. While we cannot ignore the insidious effect of allowing children to uncritically encounter embedded racism in the books they read, we should not expunge those books from the culture as a whole. It is important to preserve our literary heritage even when it reflects attitudes that are no longer tolerated as they once were. If nothing else, books like those that have been dropped by Dr. Seuss Enterprises show us how important it is to read critically and temper our admiration for beloved authors with the knowledge that they are often flawed human beings. Related Posts A Birthday Cake for George Washington: The Problem with Banishing Books Scholastic's decision to cease distribution of a controversial children's book raises some fundamental questions about… Seuss Won't Shush: Celebrating the 111th Birthday of the Insuppressible Dr. Seuss The censorship of... Dr. Seuss? Indeed, the beloved author's children's books have been banned, censored… Publishers Under Pressure Following a walkout by members of its staff, Hachette announced that it has canceled the… Free Speech Groups Stand by Embattled Publisher The National Coalition Against Censorship's statement on the 'Bad Little Children’s Books' controversy. Statement on the Publication of Books by Trump Administration Members Publishers serve a critical role in our democracy by disseminating the books that inspire public… Louisiana Library Removes LGBTQ Children's Books From Shelves A Louisiana library removed LGBTQ books from the children's section after receiving several complaints. California School District Considers Ban on Classic Books | UPDATED Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Theodore Taylor's The Cay, and… Five Classic Books Banned from Alaska School District | UPDATED NCAC urges Mat-Su school board to reverse decision to remove five classic texts from high… UPDATE: LGBTQ Books Under Threat in Loudoun County, Virginia, School Libraries NCAC is calling on Loudoun County Public Schools to avoid viewpoint discrimination and uphold kids'… Statement on the Publication of Books by Trump Administration Members Publishers serve a critical role in our democracy by disseminating the books that inspire public… banned books we brought in around 6-10 kids who had no idea what we where doing. and… Coveting Books When I learn of book awards like NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award and ALA’s Newbery and… By NCAC|March 9th, 2021|News
At this moment someone somewhere is developing an idea that will eventually become a celebrated piece of media only to be deemed racist a few decades later as we progress towards more refined ways of thinking. I think warning labels or disclaimers are appropriate. Let’s recognize who we are and where we come from rather than erase or *whitewash* our history.
Marxism is the only solution to this. If the government owns all media companies, the government can control not having things *canceled" for market related reasons.
We need to get to the place in history where only Dr Zaus knows where the humans put all the ancient books
At first, I was leaning towards dramatic corporate overreaction. Yes, typically libs would promote boycotting (which Cons would flip-flop for and against). But this Con outrage is more a proxy for Amazon banning that trans book moreso than the actual rights holders making business decisions to enhance their IP profile. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/03/03/dr-seuss-publishing-problematic-racism-473373 Without a doubt, unpublishing the books will help some small number of readers to avoid the insults found on their pages. But that number will be very, very small as the books were already scarce and largely forgotten. But what’s equally apparent is how much Dr. Seuss Enterprises stands to profit from stopping the presses. Dr. Seuss earned $33 million last year, more than any other dead celebrity besides Michael Jackson by one measure. As recently as 20 years ago, Hollywood paid $9 million for the rights to two of his books and to spin the properties off as theme park rides. By making a grand show of unpublication of some of the authors’ lesser titles, the company is shielding his lucrative franchise from some of the taint from critics who would disparage all of Seuss because of the offense generated by a relatively few pages of his output. Lesser beneficiaries would include collectors who were farsighted enough to buy these books earlier before they went extinct. Presently, fresh listings of McElligot’s Pool on eBay, proclaiming the books as “banned,” are going for upward of $500. By withdrawing the Seuss titles from publication, Dr. Seuss Enterprises has borrowed a time-honored page from the strategists at the Walt Disney Co. and the rights-holders to Warner Bros. cartoons, who similarly pruned their inventory of racist titles decades ago to maximize the value of their greater franchise. ... Of course, the owners of the Seuss works have every right to do what they please with their property. But if the goal is to better understand the grievous errors we have made in our media depictions of Asian, Black and Arab people, we would be better served by a decision that both acknowledges the racism but doesn’t impede access to the offending material. I'm up for that. So who does it? The Seuss estate? Where do we broadcast this "teachable moment" so uncomfortable out-of-touch likely-old-af white parents can share their white kids those naughty teehee pics they once enjoyed? I mean you have to believe they really remembered those Forbidden Four books in the first place. Cuz...their childhood!!!!!111111111 Their heritage!!!!!!! Spoiler
