Dr. Seuss book banned by GOP after right-wing blamed “woke left” for “canceling” him

Author: John Russell

A Republican-backed law has led to the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries in one Tennessee county — including a title by children’s author Dr. Seuss.

The removal of Wacky Wednesday from Wilson Country school libraries under the Republican-backed law comes more than three years after right-wing pundits blamed the “woke left” for “canceling” Dr. Seuss. Republicans and conservative outlets painted the children’s book author, who died in 1991, as a victim of so-called “cancel culture” after Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced in March 2021 that it would stop publishing six of his books because they contained racist depictions of characters of color.

The company described the books as portraying “people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” and said in a statement at the time that “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”

While the decision to stop publishing the six books was made by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, right-wing outlets like Fox News mischaracterized it as a book ban.

Unsurprisingly, it has actually been Republican-backed laws like Tennessee’s that have resulted in the banning of Dr. Seuss books from schools. Wacky Wednesday was previously removed from school shelves in Texas last year. The title was among 14 books removed from Katy Independent School District classrooms in 2023 after an internal committee deemed them as “inappropriate for children” for reasons the district would not make public, the Houston Chronicle reported last year.

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Author: John Russell