The Massachusetts elementary school librarian who wrote a long, pretentious letter citing racism as one of the many reasons she rejected Dr. Seuss books donated by First Lady Melania Trump is facing a backlash today. While Liz Phipps Soeiro personifies the unfortunate stereotype of a librarian as a “brittle, shrewish scold,” she is being scorched today for being something even worse — a raging hypocrite.
“My school doesn’t have a NEED for these books,” Soeiro haughtily informed the first lady in her letter. “You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature.”
School librarian in Massachusetts rejects Dr. Seuss books from @FLOTUS, calling them "racist propaganda." pic.twitter.com/Nh1oyvvOkc
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 29, 2017
As obnoxious as that was, she really went off the rails with this virtue-signalling nonsense:
Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. Open one of his books (If I Ran a Zoo or And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, for example), and you’ll see the racist mockery in his art. Grace Hwang Lynch’s School Library Journal article, “Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away from Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books,” reports on Katie Ishizuka’s work analyzing the minstrel characteristics and trope nature of Seuss’s characters. Scholar Philip Nel’s new book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, further explores and shines a spotlight on the systemic racism and oppression in education and literature.
There’s a reason “many people are unaware” of this. It’s because most people aren’t crazy enough to embrace such racialist garbage. Neither was Soeiro only two and a half years ago, apparently.
In March of 2015, she was photographed dressed as the Cat in the Hat during a “Green Eggs and Ham”-themed breakfast. A photo from the school’s Twitter account shows Soeiro wearing Dr. Seuss-style stockings and hat while holding a Cat in the Hat doll in one hand and a Green Eggs and Ham book in the other.
Look at Soeiro’s big smile as she pushed “racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes” on innocent children:
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! K and 1 celebrated with a green egg breakfast! @Cport_School @cambridge_cpsd pic.twitter.com/9st5TmSmpi
— CPORT | Specialists (@Cport_Special) March 3, 2015
Twitter users were quick to roast Soeiro — Seuss style:
Horton hears a hypocrite! If Dr. Seuss is racist, why you dress like him tho? 🤔 #DrSeuss #FacebookLeaks #FridayFeeling #MAGA pic.twitter.com/MVShMVyQL5
— Acquited dog-faced pony Diva (@realPolitiDiva) September 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/CrankyGordon/status/913762225155911680
Oh the places you'll go:
Antifa Summer Camp
Planned Parenthood, you Tramp
SJW Land is lotsa Fun
As long as you'e not white, son#RacistSeuss— Isalay Agepay Siay A Ohay (@lamblock) September 29, 2017
Green lives matter, said the Grinch, they matter a lot.
So much so, other lives matter not.#RacistSeuss pic.twitter.com/MY5hrcK2fw
— ɥɐɹɐS (@FoundersGirl) September 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/CrankyGordon/status/913759488380932101
https://twitter.com/TheRickCanton/status/913761003719974912
The First Lady’s office responded to the brouhaha today, calling it “unfortunate.”
.@FLOTUS fires back at librarian who rejected gift of Dr. Seuss books as ‘racist’ https://t.co/cpNxGQqEdw pic.twitter.com/lHgDkiQLzC
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 29, 2017
The mayor of Dr. Seuss’ hometown — Springfield, Massachusetts — is also not amused.
“‘One fish — two fish — red fish — blue fish’ — I think her comments ‘stink’ and are ridiculous towards our beloved Dr. Seuss,” Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a press release Thursday evening. “Her comments that this is ‘racist propaganda and that Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliche and a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature’ is ‘political correctness’ at its worst.”
I think the mayor nailed it.
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