When liberals cite racism in their effort to cancel certain Dr. Seuss books, former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton voices his approval. When conservatives try to regulate which books appear in school libraries, he appears on Tuesday’s edition of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! to do a skit about how logic would dictate conservatives ban C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia and even restaurant menus with chicken strips.
In the skit, Burton sits down with a group of children to discuss why certain books have been challenged. While he mocks conservative challenges, blurbs appear on screen to inform the viewers that what Burton is talking about is real. For example, “Why did they ban this book? Harriet the Spy. Why would anyone want to ban Harriet the Spy? Because it encourages spying.”
It’s a big country, there are going to be some people who are overzealous in this effort and the point of the skit was to lump in anyone who has problems with overly sexualized content with those who oppose stories with talking animals, “Charlotte's Web. Because talking pigs is disrespectful to God.”
Burton then rolled off some other books, “Stella Brings the Family, gay dads, and Tango Makes Three, gay penguins, and this one, Stella, Read Me a Story [sic], the last name of the author is literally the word ‘Gay.'"
Two things should be noted on the last one. The first is that while Burton mocks conservatives for trying to ban a book authored by someone named “Gay,” the on-screen blurb said it was a mistake. Second, if you’re going to mock conservatives for trying to ban a book, you should probably get the name of the book right, as the actual title is Read Me a Story, Stella.
Burton and the children then took a “field trip” to a school board meeting where a caricatured version of a conservative mother was ranting at the board. Burton explained that, “You see, when two people love each other, they make a baby. They put that baby in school and then they come to meetings like this to yell about how books brainwash their kids into joining the woke hive mind. Let’s listen in.”
The mother then questions the board, “Do you people know what The Chronicles of Narnia is even about? It's about a group of kids who go into a closet and then come out of the closet. As gay.”
One of the kids then asked Burton if they could leave, and so the cast was transported back to the classroom where Burton asked, “So, what have we learned?
After one child replies, “That pigs are spies and penguins are gay?” Burton again tried to mock conservative logic, but only proved he just doesn’t get it, “Exactly. Hey, before we go, I'd love to read an excerpt from the one book that will never be banned in America. It's called ‘Menu’ by The Cheesecake Factory. Chicken strips. Warm crab dip –”
The mom from the school board meeting then suddenly appeared to accuse Burton of “reading about a chicken that strips!”
Maybe one day Jimmy Kimmel Live! will talk to an actual conservative, but until then, it appears to be content with stereotypes enabled by hypocritical former PBS hosts.
Here is a transcript for the February 6 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2/6/2024
11:48 PM ET
LEVAR BURTON: Now, it's time to play our favorite game, "Why did they ban this book?" Harriet the Spy. Why would anyone want to ban Harriet the Spy? Because it encourages spying.
CHILD: What?
CHILD 2: What?
BURTON: Charlotte's Web. Because talking pigs is disrespectful to God.
CHILDREN: What?
BURTON: Exactly. Stella Brings the Family, gay dads. And Tango Makes Three, gay penguins and this one, Stella Read Me a Story [sic], the last name of the author is literally the word "Gay."
CHILD: What?
BURTON: For real, seriously.
CHILD 3: Just because of the last name?
CHILD 4: Are you dead serious?
BURTON: She's not even gay, she's married to a guy named David.
CHILD 5: See, there's no reason to ban it!
BURTON: So, right about now you're probably wondering how a book actually gets banned. Who's ready for a field trip?
CHILDREN: Me.
BURTON: Okay, hold on tight.
SCHOOL BOARD ATTENDEE: We don't read any of that filth, okay? In my house we only read Reader’s Digest magazines from the 1980s because that's when America was good.
BURTON: This is a school board meeting where the banned book sausage gets made. You see, when two people love each other, they make a baby. They put that baby in school and then they come to meetings like this to yell about how books brainwash their kids into joining the woke hive mind. Let’s listen in.
SCHOOL BOARD ATTENDEE: Do you people know what The Chronicles of Narnia is even about? It's about a group of kids who go into a closet and then come out of the closet. As gay.
CHILD 3: Can we leave?
BURTON: So, what have we learned?
CHILD 6: That pigs are spies and penguins are gay?
BURTON: Exactly. Hey, before we go, I'd love to read an excerpt from the one book that will never be banned in America. It's called “Menu” by The Cheesecake Factory. Chicken strips. Warm crab dip –
SCHOOL BOARD ATTENDEE: Hey, hey! This guy's reading about a chicken that strips!
BURTON: I said “chicken strips.”
SCHOOL BOARD ATTENDEE: Not in front of my kid, baby eater. Come here, we’re leaving.
CHILD 4: You’re not my mom.
