The Banning of Dr. Seuss

Northern_Soul said:(It’s also worth mentioning that there are members of that community on this forum. A bit of respect, please and thank you.)

I was using it as an example, missy. one of the actual illustrations is a couple of monkeys with the caption “2 Africans”. I thought that was comparable.

Northern_Soul said:(It’s also worth mentioning that there are members of that community on this forum. A bit of respect, please and thank you.)


why was that worth mentioning ? how was it disrespectful to them ?

anna_grin said:

I was using it as an example, missy. one of the actual illustrations is a couple of monkeys with the caption “2 Africans”. I thought that was comparable.

This is where living in America makes one privvy to things non Americans lack awareness of.

lepperochan said:
why was that worth mentioning ? how was it disrespectful to them ?

Said the same people shouting about the representation of ethnic minorities. 🙄

It was just a reminder.

anna_grin said:you are aware that pikey is used to refer to irish in general by the ignorant of course

honestly if you can’t see the potential problem with perpetuating stereotypes unless it’s personally your problem i think that is the end of our conversation today


i would like the term pikey not to be used, i understand that can be difficult at times not to use it but frankly it's below the belt even if trying to give an example, i prefer the term traveller or romani to be used when referring to my community please

thank you

_feral said:


i would like the term pikey not to be used, i understand that can be difficult at times not to use it but frankly it's below the belt even if trying to give an example, i prefer the term traveller or romani to be used when referring to my community please

thank you



Should we ban Lock stock and 2 smoking barrels ?


like I say, I deal with travellers. I call them travellers.


Pikey is actually a word for a peasant rebel from the 1700s  (he held a pike) an awful insult to any community

okay, missy, let’s not bring any of it out i to the open, and pretend it doesn’t exist i guess

_feral said:


i would like the term pikey not to be used, i understand that can be difficult at times not to use it but frankly it's below the belt even if trying to give an example, i prefer the term traveller or romani to be used when referring to my community please

thank you

This feels like the exact point of the example (and also why those who own the rights to those books are taking them out of print).  Stereotypes and derogatory language are offensive and it’s vital for us to recognize and evolve past it.  Again, I’m not for banning books, but I am a fan of those who own the rights making that choice on their own.  

_feral said:


i would like the term pikey not to be used, i understand that can be difficult at times not to use it but frankly it's below the belt even if trying to give an example, i prefer the term traveller or romani to be used when referring to my community please

thank you

i do understand, however i don’t know of any way to refer to the slur without saying it.

LunaGreyhawk said:

This feels like the exact point of the example (and also why those who own the rights to those books are taking them out of print).  Stereotypes and derogatory language are offensive and it’s vital for us to recognize and evolve past it.  Again, I’m not for banning books, but I am a fan of those who own the rights making that choice on their own.  

thank you, Luna for understanding the point

anna_grin said:

i do understand, however i don’t know of any way to refer to the slur without saying it.

well you could have said romani or traveller then said your description  🤷🏻‍♂️

anna_grin said:

i do understand, however i don’t know of any way to refer to the slur without saying it.

You were using it as an example of a gut punch, anna. Being Craic is Irish, and the term is Irish, you were merely attempting to use an example which related to him personally because, well, he asked.

Looks like it was an effective gut punch example, though not toward the person you were intending.

I guess the movie 'Snatch' will be next; it's riddled with the term.

Two things to say:

The estate of the author have recognised that a small portion of the entire body of work encapsulate outdated messages from the time, and they don’t sit with the rest of the works which are positive, inclusive and ask fundamental questions about our relationship with the planet. There are many books that go out of print or stop being printed because they no longer represent the larger body of work, or are recognised at the author not at their best.

What this is really about is a section of society right now saying that free speech allows all speech. They are using this to continue to push the narrative that all speech is equal, all ideas are equal, all views are equal. In a functioning society this isn’t true. We already ban and criminalise child pornography, for example.

The DU is currently experiencing the same debate. There are two threads calling for a change in rules, because there is a minority faction who want to spill hate and disruption. So very quickly the majority see anarchy and hate over-running, and move to change the limits on what is acceptable.

I’m sure that when human sacrifice got banned there were people who held on to it, claiming they were loosing their rights. As a society we disagreed.

Same old.

Let the estate of Dr Seuss manage his legacy. If you have had a look at the bike they are talking about, his legacy gets stronger by removing them....if I could kill two of Hemingway’s books I’d bloody do it.

_feral said:

well you could have said romani or traveller then said your description  🤷🏻‍♂️

we’re talking about offensive language. i don’t see how what i wrote implies that it is in any way okay to use that word but i get your point

i would still have difficulty conveying how offensive it is, without actually using it in example

Clearly human sacrifices aren’t banned, they’ve just been rebranded. it’s still our leaders who are doing it, in the name of gods or the name of security. it’s odd you didn’t notice that :),