I know next to nothing about Suess’ personal life so I may be totally off, but I also watched some people I would have never considered racist become incredibly racist towards arabs after 9/11. Without knowing any further details, that last panel reeks of “common” post-pearl harbor sentiment.
the same way FDR was the best US president in terms of pushing the country forward, reforming the economy, and also the one that made concentration camps for Japanese people.
It’s common for prejudiced people to not believe they’re prejudiced. And sometimes this leads them to criticize other, more (or sometimes merely differently) prejudiced people. So this isn’t too surprising. Like most people (yes, including us!) he recognized some harmful ideas in society but couldn’t see their influence on himself clearly.
He made a lot of political cartoons!
Like this one!
And this one!
Oh, and uh… also this one…
I don’t really know how to reconcile those last two…
I know next to nothing about Suess’ personal life so I may be totally off, but I also watched some people I would have never considered racist become incredibly racist towards arabs after 9/11. Without knowing any further details, that last panel reeks of “common” post-pearl harbor sentiment.
I grew up for a while in the south.
In the south you aren’t racist unless you act on it.
After 9/11 they felt they had permission to act on it, just like Trump gave them permission again.
But if they feel those things and talk about them amongst themselves, it doesn’t count.
the same way FDR was the best US president in terms of pushing the country forward, reforming the economy, and also the one that made concentration camps for Japanese people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans
It’s common for prejudiced people to not believe they’re prejudiced. And sometimes this leads them to criticize other, more (or sometimes merely differently) prejudiced people. So this isn’t too surprising. Like most people (yes, including us!) he recognized some harmful ideas in society but couldn’t see their influence on himself clearly.
After the war he expressed immense regret for his anti-Japanese cartoons, and recognized the racism in them.
Wartime fervor is a hell of an influence.