Dr. Seuss
Who banned Dr. Seuss?
The crazy liberals on the loose!
No more Cat’s Hat
No more Horton’s Who
No more Beyond Zebra
Nor Mr. Brown’s Moo
No Wokcets in Pockets
No Thinks to be thunk
No Hunches in Bunches
Nor Only Old Once
No Hop on Pop
No Places to Go
No Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Nor the others you know.
But wait, let’s look!
Is this story quite true?
If you found that it’s not
What do you think you would do?
45 books were published
When Seuss was alive
And three more were printed
Years after he died
Of all of his books
We’re talking only of six
Now tell me, my friend
Do you even know which?
Can you tell me which ones
You read as a child
Do you remember the words
Or the pictures inside?
What’s that you say?
You just can’t recall?
No surprise, here
They’re not common at all
And no one banned Seuss!
You can still find his books
They’re still on the bookshelves
Go on, take a look!
All except those
That make black folk look bad
Tell me, good sir
Does that make you mad?
Does it threaten your status
Hurt your feelings? Your pride?
To no longer bear witness
To the pictures inside?
When you say he was cancelled
You sound like a fool
A brainless dimwit
Who did not learn in school
A person who’s stuck
In a place in the past
A person who wishes
That racism would last
Heritage, not hate
We’ve heard it before
You started talking about it
Just after the war
But we don’t need these books
To remember the day
When black folks around us
Had no power or say
When they sat in the back
And were served from behind
When they were second-class people
For no reason or rhyme
Dr. Suess was a person
From a place and time
When his words were okay
His illustrations sublime
But those days are over
And it’s time to move on
So his family decided
That six books should be gone
That’s right I said family
As you would have seen
If you’d read the real news
And not reposted a meme
Nobody banned Seuss
That’s an obvious fact
Your values and morals
Are not under attack
It’s merely a case
Of the times having changed
And those who claim otherwise
Are clearly inane.