I feel like I should weigh in on the Dr. Seuss controversy: Seuss used ignorant racial stereotypes typical of the period in his early work, but grew more progressive over time. He was drawing staunchly anti-racist cartoons during WWII, a very bold move in the early ‘40s. 
Even as he was fighting for equality for black Americans in this period, he still indulged in racist depictions of the Japanese. This was, again, extremely common for the period, but it goes against the forward-thinking views expressed in his other political cartoons.
Following the war, Seuss saw the error of his ways. He visited Japan, and wrote the classic HORTON HEARS A WHO in 1954 as an allegory for the treatment of the Japanese by isolationists. He dedicated the book to his "Great Friend, Mitsugi Nakamura of Kyoto, Japan.”
In 1945, Seuss also wrote an instructional video for the military titled YOUR JOB IN JAPAN. Seuss’s version was quashed by General MacArthur because it was apparently “too sympathetic” to the Japanese.
In 1952, Seuss penned a wonderful essay for the New York Book Review that critiqued racist “adult” humor. And in 1961, he wrote one of his best works: THE SNEETCHES, which Seuss himself described as a parable against anti-Semitism.
Seuss rarely discussed his early political cartoons, but those who knew him say he regretted some of the ignorant stereotypes in them.
If you study the body of work of any artist from the past, you’ll find outdated ideas and elements that don’t hold up. And I’m sure people in the future will judge us for the art and expressions we use today. Seuss is somebody who grew and changed as he got older.
Anyway, his offensive work should be critiqued, but I don’t think it defines the artist he eventually became or diminishes the classic work we love him for. I hope this makes sense!
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