Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books by Philip Nel

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Reviewed by: Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books by Philip Nel Catherine Nasara (bio) Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books, by Philip Nel. Oxford UP, 2017. The book Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and the Need for Diverse Books explores the covert racism that is inherent in children's literature. Philip Nel's purpose for writing the text is to examine the ways that racism endures in children's literature. He argues that because innocence is attributed to children and childhood the drive to protect young readers by shielding them from controversial or emotionally heavy topics is the prevailing attitude of adults and publishing companies. However, by forcing an innocence imperative onto children's stories, racism is able to hide in plain sight because it flourishes under the veil of good intentions that underly institutional policies and practices that, on the surface, seem rational and objective but in reality reinforce racist ideologies. Nel asserts, "The cultures of childhood play a prominent role in replicating prejudice. As Robin Bernstein has noted, 'discredited racial ideology' sneaks into children's culture under the 'cloak of innocence,' and once there, continues to seep into the culture" (4). For instance, because of the tendency to view childhood as magical and idyllic and children's stories as didactic, we remember stories according to the lessons we learned from them. We do not look beneath the surface to see how the stories are told and how in the telling of the stories subtle racism is embedded. Therefore, stories that overlook the characters' contexts reveal a lot about how the cultural imperatives of whiteness as it is wedded with neutrality provide a mechanism for readers to ignore elements that do not reflect and affirm their lived experiences. Furthermore, not only are children's books dominated by white characters and sanitized plot lines, but the sociocultural standpoint from which the stories are told is ignored. Nel situates his discussion into a historical context in order to remind readers that his exploration is a continuation of the same questions that were asked more than fifty years ago: in particular, Why is children's literature so white? In this sense, he continues Nancy Larrick's 1965 article, "The All-White World of Children's Books," wherein she examines the state of children's literature and the fact that diversity is lacking [End Page 240] in the children's publishing industry. Nel builds on Larrick's question in order to explore ways that readers can move beyond wishing and begin to change how young readers experience literature. Nel writes, "Was the Cat in the Hat Black?, then, is a book about what happens when race gets displaced, re-coded, hidden. It is about how racist ideologies persist in the literature and culture of childhood, frequently in ways that we fail to notice on a conscious level. It is about how race is present especially when it seems to be absent" (4). Nel reveals his purpose for revisiting the harmful effects of ignoring difference and silencing the voices of people from diverse backgrounds in stories. He marks the cultural narratives that evolved in reaction to recent racially motivated shootings of black teens and to the rise of racially motived hate crimes that took place after the 2016 election as a way to invoke a sense of urgency on the part of the publishing industry to become more inclusive. To that end, Nel understands that children internalize the steady stream of negative images and stereotypes about people of color put before them on a daily basis. These images are buried in their unconscious, which reinforces racist ideologies. Nel believes that helping children recognize, accept, and celebrate difference will offset the powerful effects of racism. He claims that, "If young people grow up encountering a much wider range of books, toys, movies, and video games featuring protagonists of color, then this abundance of varied representations might help to counter … all the other racist tropes embedded in the culture...