I'll go so far as to call the political cartoon meta-race-baiting

[PretzelWarrior]

I again feel like others on here that this cartoon wasn't directly trying to compare President Obama to the crazed chimp that was gunned down by police in Connecticut.

However, the folks at the NY POst are very savvy about how to stir controversy. I can imagine they projected WE would think it was racist and demonstrate our outrage as would others in the progressive and black communities.

They also knew that the cultural references to a chimp or other primate like money that is in any way so closely tied to President Obama would please the very childish and hateful minds of racists. So it was a win-win for them without the actual fingerprints of racism on the actual cartoon.

Because all of the arguments are so well worn as are the code words and images, it's invoking racism in a way that goes far beyond the direct interpretation of the cartoon.

It would be like a cartoon with a black guy opeing the front door of his house and all you see is the glow of flames and perhaps the edge of a fire in the image. There wouldn't be a burning cross in the image but 90% of Americans would get it.

Speaking of fire, I believe this cartoon's greatest offense is how much it is like shouting "FIRE" in a crowded theater. It is meant to draw attention to oneself and purposefully create a stampede. These are dangerous times. I believe it is wrong to promote even indirect images connecting people's unhappiness with the stimulus package and violence. From comments I've read from old classmates of mine who are conservative, the Obama presidency is just now starting to sink in. I fear for the man, and I believe these cartoons are insidious no matter what the original intent.

[Blue_Tires]

1. agreed...

there is enough racial imagery and subtext to get people in a frenzy, but it is done in an ambivalent, "depends-on-your-interpretation" manner...and of course the people who take offense look like the PC over-reactors...

people have been doing it for years in the media and entertainment (RW talk radio elevated it, and satirists like South Park turned it into an art form)...and they are getting more clever all the time

[EFerrari]

2. Sure. It activates networks of association that are very swift.

Images vs. listening to someone talk or reading text. Most people respond to images much more quickly.

[Bluerthanblue]

3. who was the chimpanzee 'supposed' to be?

and why use this tragic incident for political gain?

I can't 'see' the cartoon any other way. And I'm deeply offended by it, and concerned that a newspaper would equate the shooting death of 'the author of the stimulus bill' with death by being gunned down (however necessary the actual response to the Conn. situation was).


:shrug:

[Solomon]

4. Here we go again. What is it about racism that makes people

go out of the way to deny it? Nobody in America is racist EXCEPT for black people. White people can even say all the racist things they want, but NOT be racist. I've heard it all, from Geraldine Ferraro to whatever comes next. Racism deniers. America is full of 'em, on the right and on the left. I'm sick of the parsing that goes on to satisfy people that something "is not racist". What I can't figure out is why does it bother so many racism deniers whether what somebody else said is racist? It's almost like to admit that somebody else(other than black of course) said or did something racist somehow reflects upon them. A real phenomenon. For anybody to even ask if the cartoon is racist is an insult to intelligence. There are several threads on it, yet the prospect that some people might think this is racist so bothers you that you start yet another thread about it. Amazing.

Now we're down to, they realized that people would see it as racist so they did iton purpose to get the response, but they're not racist. Jesus Christ on a cracker!

[PretzelWarrior]

5. if I interpreted it as racist, I would have said so freely

I'm not sure why you're getting so worked up. I don't think this guy is probably a real racist. I bet he has coworkers and friends who are Asian, African American, Latino, etc. and has great respect for them. However, I loathe that he is constantly in the business of coming up with cartoons that are supposed to be as provocative as possible. And he does it for money--not just his desire to see people get worked up. He's a mercenary using his cartoon skills for evil, but I seriously doubt he's a racist.

I have no problems pointing to people who are actually racist like the guy selling the Obama "Curious George" type of monkey dolls.