The cancel culture will soon be known as ‘woke supremacy’ with how extreme they’ve gotten with the war on words. We’ve seen the radical left target famous figures such as J.K Rowling, Jordan Peterson, and Jeanine Cummins over disagreements. Bookstores have cleared out Andy Ngo’s book, which talked about the violence regarding Black Lives Matter riots last summer, and even targeted Ryan Anderson’s ‘When Harry Became Sally,” a book that drew the best insights from biology and psychology about the transgender movement amongst the youth. But the cancel culture outdid themselves when they got a publishing agency to discontinue six of Dr. Seuss’ children’s books for having “racial overtones.” You know, the same books that Michelle and Barack Obama proudly read from years ago in the White House before it was deemed ‘racist.’
GOP Rep. John Joyce is fighting back against cancel culture and has introduced the ‘GRINCH Act,’ which would prevent taxpayer dollars from supporting state and local governments that have decided to ban certain books. He argues that no one is safe from this newfound ‘woke’ movement and that the First Amendment rights must be defended for all authors, children, and taxpaying citizens. His bill came in response to Dr. Seuss’s work being wiped from local libraries, schools, and websites for having contained ‘offensive material.’
“If you find that these books are offensive to your children, then parents should be the ones who make that decision – not the government. Federal dollars should not support anyone who bans books. Our First Amendment rights – those of adults and our children – must be defended. The parents are the ones who should be guiding the children, not the government. We don’t need to be woke,” Joyce said.
‘GRINCH,’ which stands for ‘Guarding Readers’ Independence and Choice’ protects authors and literature by prohibiting states and local governments from receiving funding under the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program if they decide to ban any particular books. These programs are currently designed to improve a student’s academic achievement by providing access to a well-rounded education, improving school conditions for student learning, and improve the use of technology and digital literacy for all students.
While the cancel culture argued back that the six children’s books were pulled by Seuss Foundations itself and were never actually ‘banned,’ the bill is speaking to much more than that. Joyce has visited numerous public libraries across nine counties and has seen several debates of censorship regarding books being pulled from specific reading lists in schools, including ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ The bill will create a will in an independent community to protect First Amendment rights and for all children to read books across a variety of topics.
“We have to understand that we cannot turn back and ban great historic people, great historic images that are part of our childhood. There are important lessons in these books,” Joyce said.
Even actress Sharon Stone opened up about her experience with cancel culture, adding that when people say things that feel “mean” and “offensive,” it’s a brilliant opportunity for everyone to learn and understand opposing viewpoints. She explained that kids come from different cultures and backgrounds and that everyone deserves an opportunity to discuss things. It’s the conversations we have regarding books and experiences that change the world, rather than wiping out an entire person or a misunderstood statement or comment. Mind you, eBay wiped Seuss books from its database but you can still purchase Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
The cancel culture wants to suggest that these books would “never be banned” and were simply removed by the publishing institution in the first place, but that’s how it always starts. Just a pile of burning books. It’s not the books that need canceling, it’s the wokeness.
