Orientalism, Antiblackness, and White Hegemony: Critical Race Analysis of Dr. Seuss's Children's Books

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 58
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Scholarship: Confronting Forms of Oppression in Early Childhood Pedagogies

Abstract

We conducted a critical race analysis of 50 Dr. Seuss children’s books and examined the role of orientalism, anti-blackness, and white hegemony. We utilized a mixed methods explanatory design consisting of frequency counts and a posteriori coding. Frequency counts were used to identity the number of white characters and characters of color in each book. A posteriori coding revealed themes of white hegemony, anti-blackness and orientalism. Our findings provide important insights into representations of whiteness and race in Dr. Seuss’s children’s books and their implications to the social development and reinforcement of racial bias in children.

Authors

• Katie Ishizuka, The Conscious Kid

• Ramon Stephens, University of California - San Diego