After six Dr. Seuss books were pulled from publication last week, longtime Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton identified two well-known books by 19th century American author Mark Twain that “didn’t age very well.”
During an interview with Joshua Jackson on MSNBC on Saturday, Burton pointed to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
“Talk about how you’ve seen this evolve over time. I’m sure there are books that maybe you’ve read or seen that were, you know, popular or bestsellers that in retrospect, you might look back at and go, ‘That didn’t age very well,'” Jackson asked.
“Well, I mean, there are plenty, such as Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn,” Burton replied.
OF COURSE THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION SPARKED DR. SEUSS’S CANCELLATION
Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the company that preserves Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel’s legacy, announced its decision to stop publishing six Dr. Seuss books on Tuesday, which would have been the late author’s 117th birthday, writing in a statement, “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”
Burton, also well known for his acting roles in Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation, applauded Dr. Seuss Enterprise’s decision to stop publication of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer as “responsible.”
“There are plenty of other Dr. Seuss titles. These six are not in the mainstream. They’re not The Cat in the Hat, they’re not Green Eggs and Ham, [and] they’re not the most popular in the catalog. They were already fairly obscure,” he continued. “There are so many other wonderful titles by Dr. Seuss that you can share with your children, and, you know, the people who are in charge of the Dr. Seuss brand decided, ‘Eh, these six in the light of today really don’t work for everybody.'”
Burton, who hosted 21 seasons of Reading Rainbow on PBS, is now the host of the Levar Burton Reads podcast.
Some have objected to the cancellation, with the New York Public Library continuing to circulate all of its Dr. Seuss books amid the outcry and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reading Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham in a viral tweet.
Others, like Burton, support the censorship, including Seuss’s own stepdaughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cate, who defended her stepfather against charges of racism but nonetheless deemed the titles offensive.
“I think in this day and age, it’s a wise decision,” she said. “I think this is a world that right now is in pain, and we’ve all got to be very gentle and thoughtful and kind with each other.”
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While the books were racking up tens of thousands of dollars for a single copy on eBay, the online retailer then banned sales of the books.
“At eBay, we have a strict policy against hate and discrimination to ensure our platform remains a safe, trusted and inclusive environment for our global community of buyers and sellers,” eBay Corporate Communications Specialist Parmita Choudhury told the Washington Examiner. “We’re currently sweeping our marketplace to remove these items. It can take some time to review all existing listings and provide education to impacted users. We’re also monitoring the newly published list to be reviewed.”
