Today in phony Fox poutrage, two African Americans claimed that the decision to stop publishing six Dr. Seuss books, because of their racial depictions, prevents discussions of racism that move us forward. But they did not show, much less discuss, those images they claim are so important to be seen.
WaPo's Philip Bump totally gets it. In a March 4 article called, “The one simple tell that reveals Fox News’s Seuss obsession for what it is,” he asks, “If the images at issue are so innocuous, why not show them?” Bump notes that while Fox shows the covers of the Dr. Seuss books at issue, those supposedly innocuous images have only been displayed once.
With today’s Outnumbered show, we can add, if showing the images is so important, why not show them?
In the clip below, Fox News contributor George "Tyrus" Murdoch started off by misleadingly suggesting that Dr. Seuss’ books have been banned when, in fact, it was a business decision by the company that controls the author’s books and characters.
In typical Fox fashion, Tyrus used the issue to demonize those with racial sensitivities, this time by suggesting that liberals want to cancel America:
TYRUS: I look at this and I think – you mentioned Hitler – and I think was what, the 1930s was the last time we had book burnings. We’re now having ‘em again, except they’re not bringing the books out in a fire, they’re doing it online. And we’re seeing the cancellation. We’re seeing -
And you may giggle and say, “Oh, it’s just Dr. Seuss,” but it’s a starting point. And you know, now there’s talk, they want to get rid of Shakespeare. And then what next? Mark Twain? I mean, you gotta, you know it just – where does it stop? It continues and continues to go and it’s really unfortunate and I just, I feel like this is – the word – when I think “a bit much,” this is ridiculous but again –
At that point, host Harris Faulkner interrupted to play the race card and to prod Tyrus into driving home a “Racial Sensitivity Is Worse Than Racist Images” message.
FAULKNER: We’re both people of color -
TYRUS: Yes, ma’am.
FAULKNER: And you don’t have to be to understand that this is really nonsensical.
TYRUS: Yeah.
FAULKNER: But if you erase all the things that challenge others to come to the table and talk to us about a shared journey. Will we not talk about it any more?
Shared journey? This is a woman so devoted to divisive hate monger and obvious racist Donald Trump that she accused those who criticized his Charlottesville remarks of being anti-American. She also blamed John McCain for Trump’s attack on his war-hero status.
The only “shared journey” wanted here is the conservative view Faulkner and Tyrus are trying to force on liberals or to use as a cudgel against them. And we know that because neither host said a word about the racist images we’re all supposed to want to talk about.
Tyrus took the hint. He suggested that history is being erased, even though publishers routinely decide not to publish or republish works all the time. He also made the dubious argument that racial progress depends on children seeing racist images in a book. Racist images that were neither displayed nor discussed here, on a show for adults.
TYRUS: Here’s the thing. When you look at our history, the founding fathers and stuff, and you realize that yes, the same people that fought to free slaves were OK with slavery and George Washington had slaves and that’s part of our history and seeing that the mistakes of our past don’t come back again is because we can acknowledge it and talk about it and be able to understand it and be like, wow, this era looked at things this way and this is how far we’ve come. When you take away the evidence of change, you can’t change any more.
FAULKNER: Amen.
You can watch the empty arguments about the "need" to keep racist imagery in Dr. Seuss books, whether the people in charge of his legacy like it or not, below, from the March 5, 2021 Outnumbered.