The Cat’s umbrella (which he uses as a cane) and outrageous fashion sense link him to Zip Coon, that foppish “northern dandy negro” (Lott 15). In addition to Williams, Nel argues minstrelsy and blackface influenced the Cat’s character and look. Nel also makes note of the central inspiration of the Cat’s iconic costume: Annie Williams, a black elevator operator who wore white gloves. In Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, academic Philip Nel argues that the story’s conflict hinges on the tension between two white children and a black cat who doesn’t belong in their world-but wishes to become a part of it. While a less explicitly racist text in Seuss's career, The Cat in the Hat contains troubling racial imagery. The shelved books include If I Ran the Zoo, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer. Seuss Enterprises is no longer publishing six of Seuss’s books because of their insensitive depictions of racialized characters. As of March 2021, the publishing company Dr. His dehumanization of people of color extended into his foray into children’s literature for example, If I Ran the Zoo portrays two African characters as monkeys and characterizes a group of Asian characters as “helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant.” Moreover, the book's narrator expresses his objective to display a man wearing a turban in the zoo. As a political cartoonist during World War II, Seuss used troubling racialized imagery to monolithically portray Japanese Americans and Japanese citizens as evil, conniving invaders and enemies. Seuss for employing racist imagery and stereotypes throughout his career. Readers and critics alike have criticized Dr.
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