This is a book that I left unread for far, far too long, to say the very least. Now having finally put aside the time for "Was the Cat in the Hat Black?", I have been moved to speak candidly. As a professional librarian - a member of a profession that is particularly well-placed help push against the various forms that racism can take in children’s literature as thoroughly described by Philip Nel here, but also a profession that is still very, very sorely lacking in diversity - it is now my blunt opinion that “Was the Cat in the Hat Black” should absolutely be required reading in my field.

\This is a great story. I strongly encourage you to read the book, Take some time and go through the entire book, A little slow at the beginning but stay with it and read it,

All teachers everywhere should read this book. In fact, it should be a part of teacher preparation curricula. If you care about the impact of your teaching and your students' classroom experience, read this book immediately.

This book is quite academic but got my attention from beginning to end. Philip Nel explores (often covert) racism in children's literature and classics. I like that it gave me a perspective I haven't thought of before. I particularly enjoyed the recommendations at the end of the book. Would definitely recommend this book to parents and teachers.

A truly unique evaluation of children's literature and the biases towards Caucasian children. Nel evaluates with a purely academic viewpoint and really triggered my inner-sociologist. A fantastic read!

Called a "a fascinating and necessary critical work" by Kirkus, WAS THE CAT IN THE HAT BLACK? by Philip Nel
explores the hidden racism in children's books while promoting the need for more diverse selections. Across five chapters Nel argues "we must change the ways we produce, promote, read, and teach literature for young people" and then, near the end of his text, offers 19 specific suggestions, including, for example, the need to "recognize that personal racism is often unconscious and that systemic racism is typically invisible." He references work by Karen Fields and Barbara Fields as well as that of Anna Holmes to raise awareness about racecraft, or use of language that may conceal racial assumptions (e.g., racial profiling vs. racist profiling or "diverse books" positioning White males as the default and everyone else as "Other"). Along the way, he encourages all of us to be skeptical, critical readers and advocates for a series of questions which could be used with any text (e.g., Who is silenced/heard here? What assumptions does the text make about culture and culture of its readers?). Nel is University Distinguished Professor of English at Kansas State University and his opinions and scholarship are both evident in this well-researched and heavily footnoted work published by Oxford University Press.

Racism is resilient, duplicitous, and endlessly adaptable, so it is no surprise that America is again in a period of civil rights activism. A significant reason racism endures is because it is structural: it's embedded in culture and in institutions. One of the places that racism hides-and thus perhaps the best place to oppose it-is books for young people.

Was the Cat in the Hat Black? presents five serious critiques of the history and current state of children's literature tempestuous relationship with both implicit and explicit forms of racism. The book fearlessly examines topics both vivid -such as The Cat in the Hat's roots in blackface minstrelsy- and more opaque, like how the children's book industry can perpetuate structural racism via whitewashed covers even while making efforts to increase diversity. Rooted in research yet written with a lively, crackling touch, Nel delves into years of literary criticism and recent sociological data in order to show a better way forward. Though much of what is proposed here could be endlessly argued, the knowledge that what we learn in childhood imparts both subtle and explicit lessons about whose lives matter is not debatable. The text concludes with a short and stark proposal of actions everyone-reader, author, publisher, scholar, citizen- can take to fight the biases and prejudices that infect children's literature. While Was the Cat in the Hat Black? does not assume it has all the answers to such a deeply systemic problem, its audacity should stimulate discussion and activism. (via Goodreads)
I received an eARC from Edelweiss, courtesy of the publisher, Oxford University Press, in exchange for an honest review.

This book is broken into five chapters:

The Strange Career of the Cat in the Hat; or, Dr. Seuss's Racial Imagination
How to Read Uncomfortably: Racism, Affect and Classic Children's Books
Whiteness, Nostalgia, and Fantastic Flying Books: William Joyce's Racial Erasure vs Hurricane Katrina
Don't Judge a Book By Its Color: The Destructive Fantasy of Whitewashing (and Vice-Versa)
Childhoods 'Outside the Boundaries of Imagination': Genre is the New Jim Crow
This focuses a lot on anti-black racism in the publishing industry, due to African American children's literature being the largest body of work, but it does draw from Native American, Latinx and Asian American racism as well. The Fiyah Lit Magazine discussed anti-black racism in the industry in this article as well as the BlackSpecFic report. I highly recommend reading both of those.

"The problem of trying to enforce innocence is that, as they grow up, children gain experience and knowledge. Some of these experiences will hurt; some of that knowledge will make them sad. If we exclude troubling literary works from the discussion, then children will face pain, bigotry and sorrow on their own."
My favorite chapter of this book was the second one, because it's so important to well-meaning white folks like myself. It discussed the disparity that shows up so often in both fiction and reality - white kids (and adults) are treated as angelic, tender creatures, while kids of color get treated as adults at really young ages. White kids get to be kids - they get to throw tantrums in public, they get the benefit of the doubt. Kids of color get arrested, or beaten up because they are having a bad day, or even because they looked at an official wrong. It's horrific. This article by The Establishment talks about it as well, if you want a basic primer on this as well.

I also really loved the fourth chapter on whitewashing. This quote really sums it up for me.

Deciding to whitewash a book cover on the unproven assumption that White people buy more books may seem a sound business decision, but it is a morally suspicious one. What children see on the covers of their books tells them who matters, and who does not.
This book is dense and academic, but it's also incredibly interesting. I think this should be read by everyone who wants to go into publishing. I highly recommend taking your time with this book. There is so much in it that I guarantee you will learn something from it.

This entire book was a very big leap for Nel. It reads like an academic text yet is not overly wordy to overwhelm the majority of readers. I do not necessarily agree with all his insights but once you see the connects made it will be difficult to deny the possibilities that he brings up and will open up new perspectives to think about.

The book has a definitive academic feel, but is still quite accessible. Professor Bel may ruffle a lot of feathers with this one, good thing he seems to be clear about this. He remarks in chapter 3, “As an educator, I frequently wonder: how do I speak directly, name racism when I see it, and yet minimize the chance of a White artist, writer, editor, agent, or reader rejecting my argument? While I have never met Mr. Joyce and cannot predict his response, it is certainly easy to imagine a White artist accusing a critic of ‘reading too much into’ a work or (as P.L. Travers does) pointing to young Black readers who allegedly did not perceive any stereotypes in the work, or even (in the case of a film or app) saying that X number of non-Whites worked on it.”

This quote is in relation to his discussion of James Joyce’s book, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. The book came after the app and an award winning animated short. The story is set in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, but has no people of color in any of its forms. The quote however could and does apply to the whole work. How can one do anything set in New Orleans and not include Black folks is beyond crazy. This is, according to Professor Bel “one of the most pervasive but least examined type of structural racism in children’s literature: the absence of non-White characters from places where we might expect to see them.”

I am almost certain that he will be challenged on the ‘reading too much into’ front, however valid his points are. Others may dismiss him outright as being overzealous in his search for racism, where none exists. I think either approach would be short sighted and unproductive. Hopefully academics, scholars, librarians, teachers and general readers will engage and examine the book closely and come away more conscious of children’s literature. The future of America depends on it. Professor Nel makes a compelling case for the importance of diverse children’s books. Children tend to make sense of the world through books, and if children of color do not find themselves in literature, what message does that send? He challenges his fellow Whites, particularly those involved in the publishing industry, to be vigilant in making changes towards a more diverse children’s literature. He uses five chapters and certain children’s texts to expound on a central point. His motivation for writing this book, is contained within the question of why after 50 years are we still asking the question posed in Nancy Larrick’s essay, All White World Of Children’s Books. Where are the people of color in children’s literature?
“In her oft-cited article, Larrick lamented that ‘non-White children are learning to read and to understand the American way of life in books which either omit them entirely or scarcely mention them. ‘These omissions damage the child of color, and may harm White children even more.’”
Professor Bel uses his book to propose some answers to this fifty-year-old question. It’s a call to raise consciousness because racism in literature is so often undetected, and the social illness of racism is pervasive, persistent and elusive.

In the fight for a more diverse literature this fine book is like a wakeup missile fired at those who are currently asleep. Some of his writing will easily resonate with readers, while others will over react, instead of engage in deep thought and contemplation about the issues raised. Numbers don’t lie, and there are many presented in the text about the number of diverse books published or lack thereof, and simply remaining in denial will not help move the needle towards diversity. Professor Nel anticipates deftly the circular economic argument and exposes the fallacy in it. Are Black children not buying and reading books in greater numbers because they don’t like reading or are the lack of Black characters on book covers and/or as subjects driving down interest and sales? The exposing of white washing children’s and YA book covers was informative. Apparently, publishers have convinced themselves that Black people on book covers will hurt potential sales of a book. That is an admission of the racism that permeates the world of children’s literature.

He concludes this work with a manifesto for ant-racist children’s literature. He offers up 19 suggestions toward that end; “About one-third of the suggestions that follow are explicitly directed toward Whites. There are two reasons for this. First, as the major beneficiaries of White supremacy, Whites have the strongest moral obligation to end it……...The second reason is power: A White-dominated children’s book publishing industry will be harder to change if people within that industry fail to address its systemic racism. However, in following these explicitly ‘White People’ suggestions, Whites must never speak for people of color, nor assume that we know all the answers. We do not. We must listen to people and communities of color, and do our part in opposing racism.”
An important book and one that should be shared with teachers, librarians and indeed all people who interact with children around literature. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced e-copy. The book will publish Aug. 1, 2017