I’m a liberal democrat horrified by the current Dr Seuss drama and normalization of censorship

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please include links, people.

This story has multiple headlines on Fox News. That’s why troll op is glomming on to it.

The Dr. Seuss foundation says it will stop publishing several books due to racist stereotypes. It’s pretty stupid and I think the backlash will be pretty significant. That said, this is not due to the government action but because of people with power listening to an increasingly shrill and insane minority. They don’t seem to have any moral compass of their own so they just follow the Twitterati.

I’m OP, not a troll. Before posting here I mentioned this article to my husband (a conservative) and how it bothered me, and he said “well this is exactly what you voted for! You voted to affirm behavior like this”. Which made me very angry, and I turned here for a discussion. As a democrat, I am afraid of the influence this extremely loud minority has. I do not support pulling books from shelves, or re-writing history, or large tech companies silencing opposing or even offensive participants. It just seems like society is going to a weird place, and the corporations are perhaps in a place to censor on behalf of the government, which can claim it has no influence?

The fact you are concerned about “rewriting history” demonstrates your lack of critical thinking skills. No one is trying to rewrite history. People are however trying to say that the way history has been taught and framed in the past is not accurate.

No actual liberal with a brain in their head thinks, for example, that removing Civil War statues erected in the 1930s by white supremacists is rewriting history.

It changes what people think our history is and many find that either threatening or unneccesary. It's not a lack of critical thinking skills. It's your not understanding the meaning behind her words, while she understands full well that you are removing the statues because they do have historical meaning.

And is your history really more accurate? Who is to say? Your version sounds better to you, that's all.

No one is changing any history. By removing books from the roster of ones they want to actively publish, they're changing the future. We all have that ability.

Don't think PP was referring specifically to that.

[Anonymous]

It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

It's always been about both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

What literature has been cancelled in the United States?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

What literature has been cancelled in the United States?

None, despite the constant braying of those in thrall to the right wing propaganda machine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, you voted for this type of leadership, OP.

We warned you.

By the way, info/clips of Michelle O and Kamala are circulating. They LOVED Dr. Seuss! Lol!

Is Biden in charge of what Dr. Seuss books are in active publication?

Dr. Seuss Enterprises pulled it. But if it's good for Michelle O. and Kamala, why isn't it good for all the other kids? I'd like to hear from Michelle and Kamala today. Would they agree??

[Anonymous]

Maybe this whole cancel thing is suffering a backlash.

Thirteen of the top 20 selling books on Amazon today were.......... ALL Dr. Seuss books. And, the top 5 were all Seuss books.

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/dr-seuss-books-amazon-best-sellers-1234919873/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

What literature has been cancelled in the United States?

NP. There was a thread a few days/weeks ago asking for book recommendations for an elementary child interested in history. Someone recommended the Little House series but felt the need to spend half of the post apologizing for the offensive content and saying that if you could get past that, they were actually good books. I had to read the post twice to believe it.

I agree with the OP that the censorship and cancelling is out of control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this whole cancel thing is suffering a backlash.

Thirteen of the top 20 selling books on Amazon today were.......... ALL Dr. Seuss books. And, the top 5 were all Seuss books.

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/dr-seuss-books-amazon-best-sellers-1234919873/

I purchased many today. In addition to those, I also ordered a collection of Roald Dahl’s books. Just in case

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

What literature has been cancelled in the United States?

NP. There was a thread a few days/weeks ago asking for book recommendations for an elementary child interested in history. Someone recommended the Little House series but felt the need to spend half of the post apologizing for the offensive content and saying that if you could get past that, they were actually good books. I had to read the post twice to believe it.

I agree with the OP that the censorship and cancelling is out of control.

DP. So your best example is that someone gave a full description including negative stuff but ultimately recommended the book? That's exactly the kind of "read but understand context, acknowledge the good and the bad" thing that people keep saying is the good alternative to cancelling.

Seems like you just want people to shut up about racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this whole cancel thing is suffering a backlash.

Thirteen of the top 20 selling books on Amazon today were.......... ALL Dr. Seuss books. And, the top 5 were all Seuss books.

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/dr-seuss-books-amazon-best-sellers-1234919873/

The point isn't to cancel Dr. Seuss, it's to stop printing children's books with racist caricatures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this whole cancel thing is suffering a backlash.

Thirteen of the top 20 selling books on Amazon today were.......... ALL Dr. Seuss books. And, the top 5 were all Seuss books.

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/dr-seuss-books-amazon-best-sellers-1234919873/

The point isn't to cancel Dr. Seuss, it's to stop printing children's books with racist caricatures.

The counterpoint is that such books, in context, are not harmful. Should we stop reading anti-racist book Huckleberry Finn because of the n-word and stereotypes? It's been suggested.
https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2019/03/21/new-jersey-lawmakers-want-schools-to-stop-teaching-huckleberry-finn-924748

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is appalling to me that they are pulling some of Dr. Seuss’s classic children’s books off the shelves because they are potentially offensive. At what point does this cancel culture not become Fahrenheit 451?

I just re-read one of the titles being discontinued, “...Saw it on Mulberry St”, Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book and a wonderful story about imagination. The only potentially offensive line in the whole book is “a Chinese man that eats with sticks”. Is acknowledging that Chinese eat with chopsticks now so offensive that we are banning a book that mentions it? Can any Asians out there please enlighten me and tell me if you’re happy with the choice to remove this classic book from the shelves?

I’m really afraid of what’s going on, and that this kind of move is supported and applauded by the left.

I completely agree. The ACLU should be suing about the censorship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is appalling to me that they are pulling some of Dr. Seuss’s classic children’s books off the shelves because they are potentially offensive. At what point does this cancel culture not become Fahrenheit 451?

I just re-read one of the titles being discontinued, “...Saw it on Mulberry St”, Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book and a wonderful story about imagination. The only potentially offensive line in the whole book is “a Chinese man that eats with sticks”. Is acknowledging that Chinese eat with chopsticks now so offensive that we are banning a book that mentions it? Can any Asians out there please enlighten me and tell me if you’re happy with the choice to remove this classic book from the shelves?

I’m really afraid of what’s going on, and that this kind of move is supported and applauded by the left.

I completely agree. The ACLU should be suing about the censorship.

Suing who and for what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is sad how much wonderful literature will be cancelled. All because younger generations have not been taught critical thinking skills and because everything has become about feelings, not logic, facts or intellect.

What literature has been cancelled in the United States?

NP. There was a thread a few days/weeks ago asking for book recommendations for an elementary child interested in history. Someone recommended the Little House series but felt the need to spend half of the post apologizing for the offensive content and saying that if you could get past that, they were actually good books. I had to read the post twice to believe it.

I agree with the OP that the censorship and cancelling is out of control.

How is your example censoring? Is there some new definition of censoring I am unfamiliar with?