{"id":31561,"date":"2021-03-14T13:58:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T17:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=31561"},"modified":"2021-03-11T16:04:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T21:04:31","slug":"dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Seuss&#8217;s racist breakout work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/03\/02\/972777841\/dr-seuss-enterprises-will-shelve-6-books-citing-hurtful-portrayals\">&#8220;Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing &#8216;Hurtful&#8217; Portrayals&#8221;<\/a> (NPR):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>First published in 1937, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is the book that propelled Theodor Seuss Geisel&#8217;s career to new heights, as he pivoted from working in advertising to writing children&#8217;s books as Dr. Seuss.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where can one find this work? Not in the local public library or eBay, but maybe <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3vgqSja\">on Amazon for $125+<\/a>. The PDF is available from <a href=\"https:\/\/libgen.is\/\">libgen<\/a>. The page that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/codeswitch\/2019\/02\/26\/695966537\/classic-books-are-full-of-problems-why-cant-we-put-them-down\">NPR characterized as &#8220;racist&#8221;<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1520x1039.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31562\" width=\"495\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1520x1039.png 1520w, https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1024x700.png 1024w, https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-300x205.png 300w, https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-768x525.png 768w, https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1536x1050.png 1536w, https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-2048x1400.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;a character described as Chinese has two lines for eyes, carries chopsticks and a bowl of rice, and wears traditional Japanese-style shoes.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/03\/fund-burning-of-existing-copies-of-harmful-dr-seuss-books\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"31444\">Fund burning of existing copies of harmful Dr. Seuss books?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/10\/fund-a-forbidden-books-room-at-your-local-public-library\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"31542\">Fund a Forbidden Books Room at your local public library?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing &#8216;Hurtful&#8217; Portrayals&#8221; (NPR): First published in 1937, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is the book [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dr. Seuss&#039;s racist breakout work - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Seuss&#039;s racist breakout work - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing &#8216;Hurtful&#8217; Portrayals&#8221; (NPR): First published in 1937, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is the book [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-14T17:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1520x1039.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1039\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"philg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"philg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"philg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"headline\":\"Dr. Seuss&#8217;s racist breakout work\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-14T17:58:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":129,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/image-21-1520x1039.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Social Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Seuss's racist breakout work - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/image-21-1520x1039.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-14T17:58:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/image-21.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/image-21.png\",\"width\":2061,\"height\":1409},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/14\\\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dr. Seuss&#8217;s racist breakout work\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\",\"description\":\"A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months...\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\",\"name\":\"philg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2047,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"philg\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/philg\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr. Seuss's racist breakout work - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr. Seuss's racist breakout work - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","og_description":"&#8220;Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing &#8216;Hurtful&#8217; Portrayals&#8221; (NPR): First published in 1937, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is the book [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/","og_site_name":"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","article_published_time":"2021-03-14T17:58:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":1039,"url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1520x1039.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"philg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"philg","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/"},"author":{"name":"philg","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"headline":"Dr. Seuss&#8217;s racist breakout work","datePublished":"2021-03-14T17:58:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/"},"wordCount":129,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1520x1039.png","articleSection":["Social Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/","name":"Dr. Seuss's racist breakout work - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21-1520x1039.png","datePublished":"2021-03-14T17:58:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-21.png","width":2061,"height":1409},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/14\/dr-seusss-racist-breakout-work\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dr. Seuss&#8217;s racist breakout work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/","name":"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","description":"A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months...","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e","name":"philg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","width":2047,"height":2560,"caption":"philg"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/author\/philg\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paokyZ-8d3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31563,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31561\/revisions\/31563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}