Posted: 10/2/2017 9:30:00 PM
Author: Phil Demers
Source: This article originally appeared on the MASSLIVE.com website on Sept. 29, 2017,.
Massachusetts librarian who compared Dr. Seuss books to 'blackface minstrelsy' once dressed as Cat in the Hat
by Phil Demers
The Massachusetts librarian who said she sees "racist propaganda, caricatures and harmful stereotypes" in Dr. Seuss books looked pretty happy to be dressed as Cat in the Hat in 2015.
Twitter sleuths took little time finding Cambridge Public Schools Librarian Liz Phipps Soiero's feed and digging into old posts after she raised eyebrows this week with her public rejection of an honorary gift from the White House of 10 embossed Dr. Seuss books.
Several of the pictures uncovered and reposted by users show Soiero at the school in question -- Cambridgeport Elementary School in Cambridge -- wearing the character's signature red-and-white hat and matching stockings, cradling a Cat in the Hat doll.
By way of explanation, Soiero penned a widely panned open letter to First Lady Melania Trump, which she in part described Seuss's most famed creation as having roots in the days of "blackface minstrelsy," citing a few academic articles on the topic.
The letter was addressed to Trump because the First Lady had sent these book bundles to several dozen schools having "achieved high standards of excellence" to commemorate National Read a Book Day, Sept. 6.
"You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliche, a tired and worn ambassador for children's literature," Soiero wrote in her letter, which first expressed gratitude, then criticized the First Lady's taste in children's literature and said the district neither needed nor planned to keep the books.
The Cambridgeport librarian of an elementary school chosen to be honored by the White House rejected the corollary prize: a donation of 10 Dr. Seuss books from First Lady Melania Trump.
Melania Trump's communication team responded to Soiero on Thursday, expressing regret about her willingness to turn "the gesture of sending young school children books into something divisive."
Cambridgeport Elementary School was the lone pick among all schools in Massachusetts. One similarly acclaimed school in each of the 50 states received the same gift.
Soiero, an award-winning librarian, argued the books should have gone to "underfunded and underprivileged" schools instead, and went after Trump administration educational policy, saying these schools "continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos."
The school district, for its part, released a critical 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."
