Dr. Seuss, a renowned author known for his rhyming nonsense and children’s books, started as a political cartoonist who urged America to fight against isolationism, anti-Semitism, and racism. His war cartoons targeted Hitler, Mussolini, and various American nationalists, including Charles Lindbergh and the Nazis.
Dr. Seuss, real name Theodor Geisel, was trapped in Europe when he traveled to Europe to show high-ranking generals the top-secret film. He built a tower on the backs of his people, revealing that Yertle, the character he created, was actually Hitler. On June 22, 1941, the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, and a political cartoon featuring Hitler struggling to add a giant Russian bear to his head was published.
Seuss’ concern about Hitler’s rise led him to leave the world of advertising and initially become a political cartoonist. His political cartoons, such as “Insure your home against Hitler!” and “Insure your home against Hitler!”, were canceled, but Mein Kampf, written by Hitler and filled with anti-Semitic BS, was not.
The Nazi conspiracy in 1919 Berlin was first warned by Seuss in 1939. In 1943, only Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin stood in Hitler’s way. As the war against Nazi Germany raged, the Allied leaders, including Dr. Jerome Corsi, explored the historical possibility that Hitler escaped Nazi Germany at the end of World War II.
📹 EXPOSING Dr. Seuss: CHEATER and RACIST
Dr. Suess is one of the most popular figures in children’s books, but his past is quite problematic. So, let’s get into it.
📹 The Disturbing Truth: Untold Secrets of Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss was a great book writer, he was also a great storyteller, But have you heard of the Disturbing truth about Dr. Seuss?
I find it ironic that a guy like him wrote children’s books for a career, but he hates/is afraid of children. And he cheated on his wife with one of her closest friends Audrey, who abandoned her husband and two daughters to be with him. The thing that I find the most infuriating is the fact they married a year after Helen died. Overall, shame on both of them.
Finding out someone who you admired as a child because of his books…. is racist? This is so disappointing smh 🤦🏾♀️. This is why they say don’t admire celebrities. Edit: some of y’all need to chill lol. I haven’t followed anything related to dr Seuss since I was in elementary school and I’m in college now. So I’m sorry I didn’t pay much attention to him like I should have.
This is just so sad to me because we took Dr Seuss so serious at our school. We always read his books, we had and celebrated Dr Seuss day every year where we’d do nothing but read his books all day, and we’d get snacks that were based on his characters. Our lunches were based on his books as well. Every single year in elementary school, and I never knew any of this. Childhood slightly ruined.
Shout out to his family that decided to take some of his work out of rotation. A lot of people came for them but they stood their ground. I was only about “The Cat In The Hat” because that was the only book of his that was in my childhood home. Found out about him 2 years ago (I think) when his family spilled the tea and I was disgusted. But that is what happens when you get older and start to truly understand things. Though a lot of his work is gross…thank goodness it was in rotation as long as it was and will continue to be with the just the information released and the folks that own a lot of his work. Crap like this absolutely SHOULD NOT be hidden. History should be always be revealed; good, the bad, and the ugly.
For the record (and I’m trying to be careful what I say bc I know how the internet can be and I’d get super anxious about it) he ended up regretting creating those racist imageries and changed his views. He even created books that talked about tolerance, diversity, equality, and anti-authoritarianism, and several other topics on social issues. By no means am I defending everything about what this man has done, but it is important to note to get all facts straightened when doing research. I also think it’s important that those books shouldn’t be forgotten either. Those books are a window about the USA’s past and a piece of history we learn that way they aren’t repeated again. Apologies if anything I said was wrong or rude!! Nonetheless, great article as always.
This is so upsetting. I feel for Helen😢💔 I cant believe so many schools, including mine, grew up celebrating his life and books on “Dr.Suess” day. We had green bagels and eggs and would read his books, and wear the long hats. We were celebrating a racist monster. I will never read these books to my future kids.
Just gross to think he was so heartless towards his dying wife. Some men like this exist. She was far too lovely for him and loved him no matter how he ripped her heart out. He wasn’t worth dying for at all especially knowing he was sleeping with her fake friend. The racism is unsurprising not really shocking when this is how people like him perceived us. What really made me sick was how he betrayed his wife. His books seemed strange and cannot see why parents purchased them.
Yeah, but if you can’t separate the art and the artist, you really can’t appreciate anything. The ONLY ones we can hold accountable are the ones still living, it sucks, but even artists you love will have stuff going on behind the scenes, so unless you’re ready to never listen to music, view a painting, or watch a movie ever again, we unfortunately have to separate them, as sucky as it is.
Watching this did not ruin my child hood. I never ever liked these books. I was force to read these books in school and force to celebrate his birthday. I straight up don’t know why schools force this on to children. Anytime my children schools celebrate this man work. I make sure my kids know what type of person he is.
I’ve never liked Seuss. He wasn’t a real doctor he gave very super Narcissistic personality disordery vibes. He’s basically a self perclaimed doctor wich is Erie. He seemed to be cold uncaring especially to children so why you writing books for children. Now I know I was always correct cuz adults tried talk me out of not reading his books as a very young child. I was very hard nosed about it for a little kid. I remember going no I don’t like him. I’m not reading that. I just refused him. It sounds like his marriage is equivalent to a real life version of the little mermaid without being a mermaid by the way. In the real version she takes her own life.
Wow! I am absolutely shocked. I was never a fan of Dr, Seuss books as a child. Even though I was an avid reader when I was young. But I did buy his books for my son when he was a baby. I will no longer purchase his books anymore. Thank you for sharing this awareness. I am disgusted how he treated his first wife. But am also incensed with her best friend. I don’t have any kind words to convey.
I wonder how many parts of our childhood media will be exposed for really cruel intentions?!?! Dr Seuss being a horrible husband to his first wife and a racist, person behind Barney was a man who sexually exploits women, person behind voicing Elmo from Sesame Street is a similar situation like Barney, the list goes on and on 😞🤦🏻♀️ It’s crazy that the books or shows we read and watched became so popular we were blinded by the creator’s malicious intentions
Hi SLOAN! OK I get it- but Dr Seuss was merely a sign of the times… Ignorant times. Ignorant and Racist and hateful times. Kind of like today…. But important times to remember BECAUSE of the absolute ridiculousness OF those times. It’s called HISTORY. We should only Learn from it and Never forget it, and strive to be better🇺🇸✌️
You have to remember the time this was especially during the World War II towards the Japanese and Germans. This was a widely accepted view. The article where he’s talking about foreign children is bc that was Americas view on WWII not to get involved until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was public about his affair bc women did overall were viewed as property instead of humans with rights. Nowadays we wouldn’t dare. Why, bc we’ve evolved, more particularly we are far better educated to know better.
I was just thinking about Dr. Seuss the other day when revisiting The Lorax movie. It’s so much worse than I remember. Growing up, I’ve known some stuff about Seuss, such as him not liking kids or being a racist. The cheating part I wasn’t entirely aware. It’s always been a tough case of “separate the art from the artist” for me, due to growing up and liking stuff like The Cat In The Hat or The Grinch. It’s disappointing.
thank you slo4n. i’ve heard a tiny bit about this once, but that wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg compared to what you have uncovered here!!! i shudder to think of how his first wife suffered emotionally & physically. i believe her family could have had a successful wrongful death lawsuit against him. i know that kind of lawsuit was not really done back then. it’s absolutely gross how racist images and concepts were just written into his work, like “here’s a new angle for this advertisement.” thank you so much for this research!!! ❤
In the 40s you were racist, you were anti sem or you were the ones torched. I (as an older viewer) do wish we’d not apply 2023 rules of conduct to almost a hundred years ago. I feel you’re like 5 articles away from “exposing” Genghis Khan for being someone that did bad things. “To the moon, Alice” was in shows back then bc women didn’t have the rights we have now. But…… We also had a bunch of black widows that as 2 and a half men line “I didn’t know you couldn’t keep fish in a drawer” came from. This needs to be a reflection of how far we’ve come, not “he’s evil by today’s standards”. People were different back then-its not right but, it’s the way it was
Dr. Seuss books were read to me as a child and years later I read them to my own children. I had no idea he was such a hate filled terrible person. You might also want to investigate Disney and the very racist propaganda films they made during WWII. I recall picking up a article from the bargain bin back in the late 80’s. I popped it into the VCR to watch with my 3 year old and was shocked to see Donald Duck marching off to war and terrible racist things being said about Japanese people. I was incensed and took it back to the store for a refund. I now kind of wish I’d kept it for historical purposes. Thank you for the work you do, Sloan, shining the light of truth to expose the evils hiding in the darkness. 🙏
I’m from Springfield mass, the city where he is from. I live like a few streets down from Mulberry Street. He has been so celebrated around here, like there are Christmas lights dedicated to him in Forest Park and even a Dr. Seuss Museum. We always learned and talked about him in school. I always thought his books were weird and stupid, even as a kid. My dad would buy me them and read them to me and I would hate them so much. When I would tell people I wasn’t a fan they were always so surprised and upset that I felt that way. My mother feels the same way about him to, she always says ‘why did he even write children’s books if he hated kids?’ . Long story short, he is celebrated so much in Western Mass, but I never was a fan, even though I have known this information for ages.
My Dad (black) used to read these books and even showed them to me. He never saw them as racism, because this kind of cartoons/kids shows were normal back then…there were also Cartoons showing black people like cannibals and stuff…he told me it was just normal back then and they never thought about the racism while reading or perusal such books and Cartoons…when I asked him so what did you thought about the way they draw the black people? He said he didn’t thought something about it he didn’t saw it as an attack on himself as a kid…it was just a drawing and now he don’t feel attacked by it because it was normal in the old days but changed over the years…
I have never been a huge fan of the guy, but was never aware of the problems he had. Being autistic makes it difficult for me sometimes to read body language and what certain images express. When I was really young I used to play a computer game of the story book Green Eggs and Ham. The game was from a brand called Living Books. I used to enjoy other ones like Harry and the Haunted House, Just Grandma and Me and Sheila Rae the Brave. Anyone else who used to play them in their childhood? Anyway, I’m glad you brought the subject up Sloan. What disgusting behaviour Dr Suess had.
As a child I enjoyed being read his books. So naturally when I had children I would read them sometimes. But with my adult mind and standards I felt conflicted with my nostalgia: In The cat in the hat… why did no one question some stranger coming into the house trying to seduce children with play things and games, then leave; all without the knowledge of their mother. The constant fear of the mother if she found out, suggesting maybe not tell her about the predator. It’s a book about bad boundaries and not telling someone who loves and cares about you the truth because of fear and shame. Awful. Or in Green Eggs and Ham, where this poor soul minding his own business is bullied and harassed until he eats something he didn’t want to eat. Again, a book about not having good boundaries or respecting the boundaries and space of others. What if green eggs and ham was synonymous with drugs. Should kids give in because the other is inappropriately insistent? I can see that “Doctor” Sues did not love kids.
It is a bit sad because when I was a kid, I used to be obsessed with Dr. Suess’s books. He is one of the reasons why I wanted to be an artist. Especially when it comes to the surreal but whimsical landscapes that he drew like in ‘Oh! The Places You Go!’. As some wise person said, “Never meet your heroes.”
Hey SLOAN! I love your website and the variety of topics you choose to cover! You always bring us stories that I don’t see anywhere else.Just an FYI, Dr. Phil can be called Doctor. He holds a Doctorate, which gives him the right to be called Doctor. However, he does not hold a PhD. Dr. McGraw earned a Doctorate degree in psychology from the University of North Texas, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology from the Wilmington Institute. However, he stopped renewing his licence to practice Clinical Psychology in 2006. Keep up the great work and the interesting variety of topics!
I was born in the early 70s & remember my g-grandma had many of these books at her house when I’d go visit her down in the country. There was very little to do there except read so I had read and re-read these books over and over. I was always disturbed by the artwork and as a small child knew that his depictions of black people were wrong & embarrassing – I didn’t look like that, nor anyone I had ever known yet I was ashamed nonetheless. At that time I didn’t know how offensive his pics of Asians or Middle Eastern people were, mainly because I had never really seen any except in movies. I was so young and naive then, but later realized that generations of children (and adults) of every race viewed these pics the same as me- curiously, confused, and embarrassed without knowing the full scope of WHY. He could’ve drawn people in any way he chose to but systematically decided to represent people of different races in this way over and over again spanning the years yet he was celebrated. People were so offended that people of different races had the NERVE to be offended – like his books were religious relics or something! Like why wouldn’t folks be offended?
To be fair the Theodore Seuss Geisel fund gives 10 million dollars a year in College scholarships and helping children education after Ted passed away Audrey took over the entire company she’s the one who ordered the modernization of all the books and the one who asked to have several titles pulled because of the racist undertones. She still runs it and is still president of Dr Seuss land at Universal Studios, and an interesting factoid Dr Seuss and Stan Lee of Marvel Studios were best friends and they met in the army where they served the United States military together
I think there’s some things you should talk about: .The Story of how Jim Henson’s Kermit the Frog Successor Steve Whitmire got fired by Disney and the Henson Family .Game Show Producer Mike Richards’ negative comments that cost him the hosting and producing job of Jeopardy .The Time Matthew Broderick killed two women in a car accident crash in 1987. .The legal troubles of late Sesame Street cast member Northern Calloway
i find this article really interesting! nice topic sloan! you should do another article like you said! my grammy and pop pop had dr seuss books and i remember them having them in their basement when i was younger(they probably had like old copies cause i remember the bindings were falling apart and my dad was born in the 67). crazy how something like that was in my childhood and we used to celebrate dr seuss’ birthday in school. definitely disappointing but wrong is wrong for sure and it needs to be called out
I always loved Dr. Seuss growing up . I loved to write all the way up to highscool and above my level, and we shared the same birthday (Pisces ) so it was always a joy to have dr. Seuss day in school . HOWEVER after randomly perusal Horton hears a who as a nostalgia watch, I got curious and searched him up and seen this article. I’m no longer a hard core fan, very disappointed… am I surprised at the results of a human being …. Unfortunately no . SMH
So before I started your article I said to myself, ‘this is going to ruin my childhood’. Then I start perusal the article and it’s the first thing you say! Cracked me up. Thing is I recall a few of these books and the characters, I honestly can say I didn’t think about any race when I read through these books at that time. Now adays had I read his books for the first time I would definitely have noticed and been offended. I guess you can say that through time we have grown to be more aware and sensitive to things that are racist, bigoted and unjust. I don’t know if back in the 70’s-90’s that we were naïve, dumb or brainwashed. I am just glad to know we have grown to be better people as the years have gone by. I appreciate you doing this article on Dr. Suess, people should be aware and hopefully will stop buying his shit.
I have some thoughts. First, the way his first wife went out and then all the things his second wife was willing to do for him… What did have? A golden wiener? Honestly, the fact that he was racist is not surprising. He got married in the 40’s, who wasn’t racist in the 40’s? I’m exaggerating slightly but still. Was it right? No. Was a good thing? No. But, was it normal for the time? Unfortunately, yes. Rockabilly music in the 50 got dragged on and pushed underground because it was black music originally. That’s how we got Hillbilly music (I passed my music history class). Someone from the 40’s being racist is just kinda normal. A sad truth.
Everything in the 60s 70s was racist and a lot of other distasteful things. All the cartoons we watched, Our Gang (Little Rascals), Uncle Reemis (by Disney) we saw it all when we were kids. Nobody thought twice about it. Just the way things were. Now everything is focused around sex and genders………..
Idk if this was common in multiple elementary schools… When I was in elementary school, every year classes would have a “Dr Suess Day”. We’d celebrate Suess’s birthday by wearing paper red and white striped hats(much like the cat wore) and ate green eggs and bacon(ham was too much to make, I guess? The green eggs were just scrambled eggs full of food dye. Looks as gross as it sounds 😂). We also would watch a few animated specials like The Sneeches, The Cat in the Hat, etc. It was fun then, yet I hope schools don’t still do it now. We really shouldn’t be praising this guy anymore.
It’s so sad that everything these days is being found to have a bad and or secret life from the image we grew up with. I loved Dr Seuss books read them to my oldest kids now 18 and almost 16 and got a few for my now almost 3 month old . Why can’t things be simple and clear? I truly feel like over the years almost everything from childhood has been ripped up and thrown in my face, ofc it’s not the fault of the ppl exposing these ppl it’s those who did wrong but it still hurts and it leaves me at a lose as to do some things as a parent because tbh some of the things done nowadays doesn’t still well with me. For example I won’t let my kid be an asshole destroy a store or office disturb ppl and not correct them etc, I’m old school hell I guess I’m just old (born in 84). I appreciate your articles and bringing things to light but damn is there nothing safe, good or nice in the world anymore or was it all pretty much a lie and most ppl suck?
You can’t say doctor phil isn’t a doctor, that’s unfair, he has a doctoral degree and therefore can refer to himself as Dr. Phil McGraw, but no he’s not like a traditional medical doctor, but do not disrespect anyone earning a doctoral level degree as not being able to be recognized by the title they earned. Also Dr. Phil I believe is no longer a licensed therapsit because he effed his client or staff member, otherwise an ethical violation in his career.
9:29 can someone please explain this ad to me as though I were a child? I’ve seen this one and I always thought it had a positive message – i.e. like anti-segregation or something, like “white labor” and “black labor” joined together was the only way to achieve “harmony”. I feel really, really stupid right now. ETA: to be clear, I obviously understand the racism in “if I ran the zoo” and a number of his other political cartoons and, particularly, in his early ad work… that shit is raaaacist. This is the sole piece with which I am familiar but had always glossed over because I presumed it was about all of us working together on the war effort.
I’m sorry to nitpick, but Dr. Phil can’t be called “not a real doctor”. Just to be fair, He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased renewing his license to practice psychology in 2006. So he had a license and went to school for it, just no longer practices. It’s not like he woke up one day calling himself Doctor, like Dr Seuss. No hate, just wanted to be factually correct. & If someone spent all those years to earn a doctorate, that doesn’t take away from that if he’s not currently renewing his license; So yeah he can actually call himself a doctor.
Just a friendly FYI😊, Dr. phil Is a real doctor. Not an M.D., but Dr. Phil is a real-life psychiatrist who took over his Father’s practice. Dr. Phil was in practice for years, and was then hired by Oprah for a court hearing as a professional witness, and then Oprah later helped him get his own show. Just saying🌹❤
Bro I saw one of your articles that got put on my youtube feed watch it and it was fire then I went on to check your website and saw you had more that were just as good. Keep it up man and you will blow up in no time and I thank god it showed me your website cause I was really bored this week. Keep it up man.