Dr. Suess

Dr. Suess.

This cartoon is an example of the very limited freedoms that non-whites received in America despite what the American ideals seemed to proclaim. Freedom for all was actually limited to a small number of people of a certain color and origin.

This Dr. Suess cartoon shows how certain wordings of things made it seem as though America offered equal rights and opportunities to all but that the real picture was something quite different. Howard Zinn talks about such things in A People’s History of the United States: “Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom.” Not only were blacks denied almost all freedoms for the longest time because they were forced into slavery, but even when slavery was abolished with laws and amendments, their freedoms were still not granted. The United States had built up an enormous and deep running racial prejudice that was not going to go away anytime soon. It was something that would take an unknown, uncountable amount of time for the country to overcome. When the constitution was written guaranteeing the pursuit of life liberty and happiness, it did not mean for everyone. It meant for wealthy, white landowners. This cartoon shows that there is a whole group of people just swept under the rug and forgotten about, not unknowingly but purposefully. In “Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom” Zinn talks about the difficulties blacks faced even after being freed from slavery. He says, “The constitutional amendments were passed, the laws for racial equality were passed, and the black man began to vote and to hold office. But so long as the Negro remained dependent on privileged whites for work, for the necessities of life, his vote could be bought or taken away by threat of force. Thus, laws calling for equal treatment became meaningless”(149). This is an excellent point made by Zinn. These laws that were passed became meaningless, empty words on paper because they were not actually carried out. The white man was still dominant and could force blacks to do what he wanted because blacks needed a way to live and had no choice with no money and no land. They had to support their families somehow. Although blacks were given their freedom on paper the laws were not carried out as they should have been. Even today there is still inequality and black oppression but we still proudly sing our national anthem that proclaims, “Justice for all.”

I was very interested by this cartoon when I came across it for several reasons. I thought it complemented perfectly what Zinn was trying to say about black freedoms in our American society. I had also learned something new about Dr. Suess. He is, of course, well known for his children’s books. I had no idea that he has also done some political cartoons during his career. It was interesting going through all of them and seeing a completely different side to the author. We had often talked about in class the Constitution and amendments for equal freedoms that are supposed to act as laws of our country but had not really discussed what Dr. Suess brings up in his cartoon, certain symbols of America such as the National Anthem.