Dr. Seuss, Pepe Le Pew and Mr. Potato Head Are Not Enough.

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” –Toni Morrison

I appreciate cancel culture. Cancel culture is the recent phenomenon of ostracizing brands and people due to offensive or problematic (read: racist, homophobic/transphobic, or misogynistic) remarks or ideologies. Author J.K. Rowling and The Bachelor Host Chris Harrison have (allegedly) been canceled, for example.

In my not so humble opinion, cancel culture is nothing more than one being held accountable for what comes out of their mouth. We all need to operate in the fear of getting cancelled for political incorrectness; especially those with a certain level of notoriety. The People put politicians, entertainers and athletes where they are. You can’t offend the people if you want them to vote for you, watch your shows/movies, cheer for your team or buy your “merch”.

Most people who get cancelled, deserve to be cancelled.

If you want the support of people of color, you can’t be racist. If you want the support of women, you can’t be misogynistic. If you want the support of LGBTQ+ people, you can’t be homophobic or transphobic. As someone who is on some level all 3, I’m usually glad to see people get “cancelled”. Hell, I don’t even believe everyone should have “Freedom of Speech” I digress.

As our country becomes more “diverse” and those demographics gain financial and political power, the charming racism and sexism of the days of old is a bit harder to get away with.

The conservative right is losing their damn mind.

Earlier this month, Dr. Seuss enterprises decided to stop publishing 6 (out of over 60) of his lesser known books that had racist imagery of Black and Asian people (that Dr. Seuss himself attempted to make amends for). Hasbro decided to take the “Mr.” out of the Mr. Potato Head brand and make the toys gender neutral. Thirdly, Warner Brothers scrubbed Pepe Le Pew from Space Jam 2 because he’s… rapey, for lack of a better word.

Conservatives took this all and ran very fast with it. They didn’t stop to get the actual facts on their way out the door either.

Tucker Carlson said it was fascism. Before tweeting a video reading Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham for no reason, GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stated “First they outlaw Dr. Seuss and now they want to tell us what to say” while debating the voting rights bill (Don’t even ask me, I don’t know what voting rights have to do with Dr. Seuss either).

At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Rep. Matt Gaetz proclaimed “Look out, Mr. Potato Head, you’re next. I’m sorry, I think he’s now going by Potato X. He can’t be Mr. Potato.”

The GOP’s current Black prop, Sen. Tim Scott said “woke supremacy is a bad as white supremacy. We need to take that seriously.”

This is all a huge distraction.

While Democrats were trying to provide citizens some relief from the pandemic, Republicans were reading Green Eggs and Ham and quietly coming for Voting Rights and Planned Parenthood funding.

The GOP is on a campaign to distract The People. The Republican party is trying and failing to grasp political power while simultaneously attempting to take away rights and avoid accountability. They are not do anything of substance to help their constituents, so they have to stoke unnecessary outrage around an imaginary ‘culture war’ and it’s working. As a result, the very people that need stimulus checks, SNAP benefits and child care (and will get them because of the slim democratic majority) will still vote red because of Dr. Seuss and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head.

It is also very hypocritical of them to decry cancel culture this loudly. “Karen” and “Kevin” have mastered the art of canceling themselves and often use their power and privilege to do so. It wasn’t long ago that Colin Kaepernick’s jerseys were being burned because he exercised his 1st amendment rights.

As if faux outrage isn’t enough, Republicans are struggling to find a scapegoat in Democrats, ‘the radical left’, liberals, ANTIFA, Black Lives Matter and those of us who are ‘woke’. As someone who is a part of a few of those groups, I won’t take custody of any of this week’s distractions. I have been in plenty of organizing spaces and meetings with “woke” people and BLM, Pepe Le Pew was never on the agenda. To be frank, I do not give a solitary shit about cartoons, books or toys from last century. There are bigger fish to fry. Also, we have no business cancelling the Pepe Le Pews of yesterday if we won’t cancel the Andrew Cuomos of today.

In November, when voting for our next President, I had to choose between two men who had been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. Last week at a rally for Breonna Taylor at Kentucky’s Capitol Building, we were called “fucking niggers” by two white people; one of whom who threatened to “rip down” our Black Lives Matter banner.

If any of us are to be victimized because of our race, gender or sexual preference, it isn’t because of a 60 year old cartoon, a toy we played with or the books our village read to us 20 years ago. We are victims because of what is going on right now.

Police can lawfully barge into our houses and use their guns as a first resort. We can be victimized by sexual assault and put on trial in the court of public opinion for having the nerve to speak out. Our voting rights and the right to our own damn bodies are in jeopardy in legislatures all over the country.

As long as all of that is true, while it is progress, Dr. Seuss’ 6 books, Pepe Le Pew’s problem with consent, and Mr. Potato Head’s gender or lack thereof is not enough. There must be more substance than symbol in the fight for social justice.

America isn’t really ready to address racism and misogyny. We are still too afraid of the powers that be.

We won’t even teach our youth accurate history of this country. With access to endless information, we won’t attempt to learn it ourselves. Furthermore, How can one fight for children to have access to Cat in the Hat while voting against legislation that provides affordable healthcare and access to food for those same children? How can we hold a cartoon skunk accountable and not Andrew Cuomo or countless other powerful, abusive men.

Dr. Seuss’ estate, Hasbro, Disney and Warner Brothers have done what they feel is necessary to atone for sins of the past and cultivate a better future. I wish those noble efforts weren’t overshadowed by a fake culture war. I wish the powers that be would join the effort to make the world safer for everyone. I feel a little better about keeping my Dr. Seuss books to read to my children, nieces and nephews but that isn’t enough, not even close.

I hope cancel culture is just getting started.