A school librarian in Massachusetts rejected the free books Melania Trump sent because they are “racist” – they’re Dr. Seuss books. The school district rejected her and the mayor of one town slammed her.
First Lady Melania Trump celebrated National Read a Book Day by selecting some children’s books and sending them to one school in each state. Mrs. Trump selected Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! because it was, “one of her personal favorites that she and her son have read together over and over.”
Other books included included One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Green Eggs and Ham among several others.
Tuesday, the librarian at Cambridgeport Elementary School in Massachusetts wrote a response which informed the First Lady the school would be rejecting the books, calling them “racist propaganda.”
Only a person of the left could find racism in Dr. Seuss books.
She wrote: Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes. Open one of his books (If I Ran a Zoo or And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, for example), and you’ll see the racist mockery in his art.
“You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature. As First Lady of the United States, you have an incredible platform with world-class resources at your fingertips,” she wrote snarkily.
The school’s librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, wrote a lengthy editorial for the Horn Book’s Family Reading blog explaining her school also does not need the books.
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Then Soeiro got to the real reason she rejected the books. It was a slap at Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump. She wrote: “Why not go out of your way to gift books to underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos?” she wrote.
As it turns out, she had no right to reject the books, according to CBS News quoting school officials:
The Cambridge school system [Massachusetts] says the opinions in the editorial do not represent the district and released a statement, saying “the employee was not authorized to accept or reject donated books on behalf of the school or school district.”
“We have counseled the employee on all relevant policies, including the policy against public resources being used for political purposes,” the district said.
The Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno slammed the silly librarian and invited the Trumps to the Seuss museum. He called the librarian’s rejection of Massachusetts native Dr. Seuss ‘political correctness at its worst’.
Melania Trump’s office responded. From NBC Boston:
“Mrs. Trump intends to use her platform as First Lady to help as many children as she can. She has demonstrated this in both actions and words since her husband took office, and sending books to schools across the country is but one example,” said Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director. “Turning the gesture of sending young school children books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere.”
We don’t understand this librarian’s stance. Barack Obama read Dr. Seuss books all over the country and no one seemed to mind.
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