Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I think part of what’s interesting to me is that the issue is two-fold: is the image offensive and if so, is that justification for pulling Mulberry Street? I say absolutely yes to the first, but I have some fixed feelings about the latter.
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The picture in question is certainly dated, but I'm not so sure that it is offensive.
The
Mulberry Street book was published round about 1937. That's not so long after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The queue hairstyle was quite common in China up until about 1911. There is even a photograph on the Wikipedia page about the queue hairstyle of a Chinese man in San Fransisco sporting it and dressed fairly similarly to the character Dr. Seuss' book. So it is perhaps not unnatural for Dr. Seuss to have chosen such an image to represent a person from China.
If the picture were making fun of the Chinese person, it would be different. But I don't see that in the image. It's a bit goofy, but not any more so than many of the other pictures in the book. Just look at the elephant and the zebra.
Would a child of today understand the cultural history of the queue hairstyle? Likely not. That's what teachable moments are for. That's also why it's good to read books with one's children.