American multinational publishing company Scholastic pulled a book from the popular “Captain Underpants” author after recognising that it “perpetuates passive racism.” The book under scrutiny is Dav Pilkey’s 2010 book “The Adventures of Ook and Gluk” which is about two friends who travel from 500,001 B.C. to 2222 where they cross paths with a martial arts instructor who teaches them kung fu.

In a statement on Monday, Scholastic said it has pulled the book from library, book store shelves and from its websites. The distribution of the book has also been halted. 

“Together, we recognize that this book perpetuates passive racism. We are deeply sorry for this serious mistake,” the company said, adding that it has “removed the book from our websites, stopped fulfillment of any orders (domestically or abroad), contacted our retail partners to explain why this book is no longer available, and sought a return of all inventory.”

“We will take steps to inform schools and libraries who may still have this title in circulation of our decision to withdraw it from publication,” the company added.

The author of the book also took to issue an apology about the book. 

“I hope that you, my readers, will forgive me, and learn from my mistake that even unintentional and passive stereotypes and racism are harmful to everyone. I apologize, and I pledge to do better,” he wrote.