New York Post Shows True Colors

Before I comment on this...before I even post the article and the cartoon, I am going to save myself a lot of trouble by going ahead and replying to the typical responses to situations like this:

1.) Al Sharpton is just using this as a excuse to get back into the news.
A: Normally I would agree with a statement like this, but this is a "duh" moment. If a race has had a history of being referred to as apes and chimps, then of course making a cartoon like this is going to be offensive. This isn't a situation exclusive to blacks...every race has a disparaging stereotype. The chimp cartoon is offensive because it taps into generational wounds.

2.) Bush was referred to as a chimp and no one said anything...isn't that racist that it is a problem to criticize the black president but it is OK to criticize Bush?
A: It is OK to criticize a president. Clearly no one has a problem with that given that there are already dozens of cartoons that do criticize him that have not made the news. If Bush's race had a history that was comparable to the one mentioned in the response to Statement #1, it would be a problem, too.

3.) Congress wrote the bill, so the cartoon is talking about Congress, not Obama.
A: The New York Post--which is owned by the same company that created Fox News--referred to the stimulus bill as "Obama's Economic Stimulus Bill." Nice try. http://www.nypost.com/topics/topic.php?t=Barack+Obama

4.) I'm black and I don't find it offensive.
A: Congratulations for finding the cure to generational wounds! Why don't you bottle it up and sell it to everyone else? And on a side note, when did you become the spokesperson for the rest of us? No, I am not acting as a spokesperson myself by pointing this cartoon out. I am stating the obvious: this cartoon is going to strike a deep-set and painful nerve on a level that doesn't equate to other critical cartoons.

5.) The First Amendment protects their right to publish anything they want.
A: Of course it does...it also protects our right to speak out against it.

6.) Why are you trying to stir up trouble with this race stuff?
A: Spoken like a true racist on the defensive.

Well, hopefully that will save me the trouble of dealing with cliché responses. Here is the article:

Feb 18, 10:28 AM EST



NY cartoon appears to link Obama to dead chimp

By KAREN MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer


NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton says a New York Post cartoon that appears to link President Obama to a violent chimpanzee is "troubling at best."

The cartoon in Wednesday's Post by Sean Delonas shows a dead chimp and two police officers, one with a smoking gun.

The caption reads, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

The cartoon refers to Travis the chimp, who was shot to death by police in Stamford, Conn., on Monday after it mauled a friend of its owner.

It links the chimp to Obama, who signed his administration's economic stimulus plan on Tuesday.

Sharpton called the cartoon offensive and divisive.

The Post had no immediate comment.

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Comment:

OK, New York Post...this is as transparent as plastic wrap. To try to throw this one off as being "made into something it isn't" is insulting. Why don't you just call it a day and reinstate your hoods-and-sheets dresscode? Not everyone is as ignorant to reality as your readers.