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"My 12-year-old daughter had a sticker on her water bottle with a quote from Dr. Seuss: 'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.'"

"A classmate told her the sticker was racist because many people can’t choose what they want to do because of structural racism. My daughter peeled off the sticker and threw it away. When she told me about it, I was at a loss. I believe structural racism is real and pernicious, but I also think we should teach children that they have agency. And my daughter and I like the sticker’s message. Help!"

A question asked of a NYT advice columnist. The answer isn't interesting (just something about having a nuanced conversation with the daughter).

Hey, remember when Melania Trump tried to donate some Dr. Seuss books to an elementary school and the librarian rejected them?
[W]e will not be keeping the titles for our collection.... 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....  Another fact that many people are unaware of is that 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. Grace Hwang Lynch’s School Library Journal article, “Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away from Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books,” reports on Katie Ishizuka’s work analyzing the minstrel characteristics and trope nature of Seuss’s characters. Scholar Philip Nel’s new book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, further explores and shines a spotlight on the systemic racism and oppression in education and literature.
ADDED: If that Dr. Seuss quote is racist, then isn't just about every graduation speech racist? Aren't kids given racist advice all the time? You can be whatever you want. Is that a good message?
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