We have to learn history. If we want children to understand why racism is wrong, we need to show that what racism is. Huck Finn is the canonical example. Yes, it's absolutely full of horribly racist characters, but what the book says is that those characters are wrong.

So what about Dr. Suess. Did he do a lot of wartime propaganda? Sure did. And I wish he hadn't done a lot of the anti-Oriental stuff. Does the fact that this was during the midst of an actual shooting war excuse it? Maybe a little. But for the most part I was never aware of those pieces when I was a child.

What did I see when I was a child? Things like Star Bellied Sneetches, the most explicitly anti-racist story ever written for children that age.

And OK, he didn't write people of color - the few times he actually included human people. How about instead of excluding his work, you include works from authors of color? But not just during Black History Month, or a special section of "Black authors". Include them alongside everyone else on equal footing.

You don't provide a balanced education by only teaching about people who were perfect. You do it by teaching people across a spectrum.