Trayvon Martin Dialogue

To The Editor:
The Treyvon Martin/ George Zimmerman trial has shone the spotlight on race relations. I wish to redirect it to those behind the clamor by referring to the wisdom of a doctor. His middle name: Seuss. Uninformed critics will laugh at the notion of Dr. Suess (actual name: Theodore Geisel) as juvenile, and will mock me for using him at all. It doesn’t matter when you know the real Dr. Seuss. His children’s stories appeal to universal archetypes and, like the Bible, addresses issues on a level that all can comprehend.
His body of work also contains adult level material. He wrote many of the rhyming episodes of Warner Brothers’ animated series for soldiers, “Private SNAFU” on the dangers soldiers should face, and situations to avoid. The rhymes have the Seuss-esque cadence idiomatic of his books. “Private SNAFU” was of a very adult nature, and definitely not for children. He also drew over 400 political cartoons before and during WWII.
He was extremely critical of Roosevelt for his lack of concern for the Jews, and his cozying up with fascists before Pearl Harbor. Much of this work is depicted and analyzed in the book Dr. Seuss Goes to War, available on Amazon.com. One of Dr. Seuss’ most famous stories, Sneeches, from the book Sneeches and Other Stories, symbolizes racism. Some Sneeches have stars on their chests and some don’t. The starless Sneeches are the minority race and are discriminated against by the dominant race. The story also has a crucial character that is almost forgotten by those who recall it: the charlatan Sylvester McMonkey McBean. He visits town with a machine that applies stars to the Sneeches chests, making them indistinguishable from those of the dominant race.
All the starless Sneeches pay him to receive stars, causing confusion for the original starred Sneeches. Conveniently, Sylvester McMonkey McBean also has a star removal machine so that the original starred Sneeches can identify themselves again. The newly-starred Sneeches in turn follow suit, and chaos ensues. As this process continues, no one knows who is who anymore, the machines explode from overuse, and Sylvester McMonkey McBean leaves town with all the Sneeches’ cash. It takes all this for the Sneeches to realize that stars is a dumb way to judge a Sneech, and they learn to accept each other.
During this time of growing racial tension, let’s not forget Sylvester McMonkey McBean. There are unscrupulous people like him in our society. They capitalize on racism at everyone’s expense, and need to fuel it in order to do so. People like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson do it for money. People like Oprah and Barack Obama, who attended the same racist, anti-semetic church run by fellow exploiter Jeremiah Wright, do it for power. Actually, Oprah does it for both! Charlatans like these must be ignored. We should instead follow the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Don’t judge a person by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
MICHAEL TOURETTE
Wildwood