Hidden Racism in Children’s Books:
Preservation of White Supremacy
Emily Macintyre, Department of History
Overview
Children’s Literature has
always been used to mold
children into believing a
specific set of ideas and
values. As books are passed
down generations, they carry
the ideas and teachings that
were common in the previous
generations. The messages
conveyed through Children’s
Literature can lead to ethical
problems if left uncriticized,
but there is a fine line
between criticism and
censorship.
• After the Civil War, hundreds of books were written to
rebuild the relationship between the North and South
• Children's literature fell into three categories: Plantation
Stories, Adventure Stories, and Political/social satire.
• Writers masked the harmful effects of slavery,
established an emotional connection between the north
and south to create a common enemy out of the black
community, and introduced impressionable children to
racist stereotypes.
• This led to the continuation of Racist ideas and white
supremacy.

Acknowledgements
I want to thank my faculty mentor, Dr. Ford, for her never-ending
support while working on this project. Her constant enthusiasm
while teaching is one of the only reasons I am here, and she
has pushed me to challenge myself and build on my ideas. I
cannot put into words how much she has helped me over the
last few years on this project, as well as countless others that
did not make it this far.

Thomas Nelson Page
• Thomas Nelson Page was a famous
southern author at the end of the Civil War
• He can be credited for the widespread
acceptance of the Plantation Myth
depicting loyal, happy slaves and
benevolent masters
• Two Little Confederates was written to
encourage reconciliation between the north
and the south while encouraging the belief
that southern citizens were victims of a
society that created the need for slavery.

Dr. SUESS
• In his early years, Dr. Suess
actively participated in racist
practices such as performing in
black face and writing and
performing his own minstrel
shows.
• He drew inspiration from these
stereotypes for many of his early
drawling.

He has repeatedly depicted
African Americans as Monkeys
in his cartoons and books.

•

In 1904, Page wrote The Negro: The
Southerner's Problem, Which talks
about the prevalence of lynching in the
south.
• Page places the blame for the
violent act on African Americans
being lynched.
• He claims that lynching will not stop
until the violent rape and murder of
white women and children is stopped.
• He says that young African American
men are being brainwashed with ideas
of equality to believe that they
"opportunity to enjoy, equally with
white men, the privilege of cohabiting
with white women."

Above image from If I Ran a Zoo depicting African
Americans as monkeys
Above Image reads: “My name’s Crusoe, Robinson J. May I have the honor
of joining you?”
“Not unless you swim back after some Flit, mistah. The Flies on this island
are fearful”. The Images shows a black men drawn as a monkey and
surrounded by flies

Above Image Reads: "Take home a high-grade Ni**** for your wood
pile". The Image shows Black men drawn as monkeys.

Dr. Dolittle
• The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle by
Hugh Lofting, along with The
Story of Dr. Dolittle, are littered
with racist depictions of
Africans.
• The story includes a side story
where an African prince wants
to marry a white princess. The
doctor has the prince put his
face in lye to bleach his face.
• Later editions of the story have been edited to appear less
offensive, either by completely deleting the chapter or
changing the Doctor’s recommendation.
• This demonize interracial relationships, prioritizes
whiteness, and teaches young black children that they
will never be accepted because of the color of their
skin.

• Later in his life, Dr. Suess acknowledged
that the images in his cartoons and
books were harmful and edited some of
the images to be more respectful.
• Toward the end of his career, Suess
wrote Horton Hears a Who!, The Lorax,
and The Sneetche to teach young
readers about inclusion and acceptance.
• This does not absolve him of all
wrongdoing, but by acknowledging
what he did was wrong and actively
trying to improve future generations, he
becomes the perfect example of the
evolution ideas.

References
• Finley, Martha. Elsies Motherhood. New York, New York: Book Jungle, 2008.
• Lofting, Hugh. Travels of Doctor Dolittle. New York, New York: Beginner Books, 1967.
• MacCann, Donnarae. White Supremacy in Children's Literature Characterizations of African Americans,
1830-1900. New York, New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2013.
• mackethan, lucinda. “Thomas Nelson Page: The Plantation as Arcady.” NATIONAL JOURNAL OF
LITERATURE & DISCUSSION, 2, 54, no. spring 1978 (2003). https://www.vqronline.org/essay/thomasnelson-page-plantation-arcady.
• Page, Thomas Nelson (1904). The Negro. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 108, 109, 111, 112–
113.
• Page, Thomas Nelson. Two Little Confederates. New York, New York: Scribner's Sons, 1888.
• Richardson, Selma K. Research about Nineteenth-Century Children and Books: Portrait Studies.
Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science, 1980.
• Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's Comrade). 1st ed. New York: C. L.
Webster, 1885.
• Wilson, Charles, and William Ferris. “Thomas Nelson Page, 1853-1922.” Thomas Nelson Page, 18531922. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOUTHERN CULTURE, 1989.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/pageolevir/bio.html. Nel, Philip.
• Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: the Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse
Books. Oxford University Press, 2019.
• The Conscious Kid, Twitter Post, March 2018, 2:35pm
https://twitter.com/consciouskidlib/status/969657390587985920
• Flit advertisement, between 1930 and 1940, Dr. Seuss Advertising Artwork. Special Collection &
Archives, UC San Diego Library
• Seuss. If I Ran a Zoo. Random House, 1977.