Do you think the NY Post Chimp Parody is Racist?

_________________________________________________________________________
What do you see when you look at this cartoon? I'm sure you have heard about it, but what are your true thoughts? I personally am outraged! Although President Obama didn't technically write the bill, most lay people would associate him with the stimulus bill, since he was the one championing it around the country. The picture is not only shameful because it alludes to assassinating the president, it is shameful for the family who actually went through the monkey ordeal. I stumbled upon a meeting with Reverend Al Sharpton before the rally on February 20th and listened to all of the people talk about how they felt. So many people were angry and fed up. Rev. Sharpton wants to do more than rally, he wants to also target the FCC regarding the NY Post and affect the NY Post's waiver. I think more should be done than just do a boycott. The NY Post's first response to complaints regarding the cartoon was unapologetic and downright rude. The second response was a half-hearted apology. I think they have gone far enough. If you look at this website :http://gawker.com/5155855/ten-masterpieces-from-sean-delonas
you will see many of the offensive cartoons that Sean Delonas has created. All of these things encouraged me to participated in the rally on February 20th. It was really cold, but I felt like I helped give back a little and stand up for something I believe in. Racism to me is disguised in parody cartoons, which are defended by free speech. One can't ascertain the true intentions of these cartoons, but just as people are free to create these cartoons, people are free to protest them. At Columbia University, a similar incident happened in 2004 in which a conservative newspaper put out a parody cartoon during Black History Month about the history of African Americans. Basically, the cartoon started during with the slave trade, slavery in the US, and ultimately, African Americans playing basketball. I participated in that rally at Columbia too! I have no tolerance for these offensive media like this.
_________________________________________________________________________
The Black Fun Whitey Cartoon is here.

Here is a link to the cartoon: http://www.wikicu.com/Image:FedCartoon.jpg
_________________________________________________________________________

I have some pics from the rally in my photos album. Here is a short clip of the rally:

Find more videos like this on Jami Jackson's Site

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Charles McCauley on February 25, 2009 at 11:55am: Hello Jami, and congratulations in building this excellent page. Unfortunately my first real entry will be in response to your question posed in your blog. I will begin by saying that I'm in total agreement with your sentiments. As an artist myself I know the subtle nuances available to the illustrator to convey perhaps multiplicity of messaages, but none so confusing that the message is unclear; simply, we use art and other media to reach masses on the common level, as you said a layperson.... Our craft is fine tuned as we progress in experience, perfecting our skill at effective communication and establishing our proficiency. On that note, I will relate this paradigm to Mr. Delonas, who is in the tenured employ of the New York Post (mortem, we hope); his "thinly veiled" swipe at the Stimulus Bill was a blatant-as-a-brick, well thought out effort to express the sentiment of the Post, it's management who poorly dealt with the outrage, and all who possess a myopic vision of race and feed daily on the New York Post to sustain their outdated beliefs. Surely the solution to this madness is to work at rescinding the excessive reach of Mr.Rupert Murdock, who was given practically unlimited reach to establish his media empirein America despite the rules that initially prevent foreigners from such an enormous foothold on our shores... This is where the focus must be at the upper eschelons and our people must acertain where their dollars go, and redirect them away from Mr. Murdock's media empire. I wish you continued success in your endeavours and as always, I'm in your service....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jami Jackson on February 25, 2009 at 8:22pm: Thanks Charles! I definitely understand what you're saying. Mr. Murdock was able to attain so much power in the US, yet he has not been sensitive to the diversity within our nation. Although he has apologized, the question is, is an apology enough? Will there be an attempt by the NY Post to improve their newspaper and make it more sensitive to the demographics of NYC, or will they simply move on as business as usual until the next infraction?

Charles McCauley said:
Hello Jami, and congratulations in building this excellent page. Unfortunately my first real entry will be in response to your question posed in your blog. I will begin by saying that I'm in total agreement with your sentiments. As an artist myself I know the subtle nuances available to the illustrator to convey perhaps multiplicity of messaages, but none so confusing that the message is unclear; simply, we use art and other media to reach masses on the common level, as you said a layperson.... Our craft is fine tuned as we progress in experience, perfecting our skill at effective communication and establishing our proficiency. On that note, I will relate this paradigm to Mr. Delonas, who is in the tenured employ of the New York Post (mortem, we hope); his "thinly veiled" swipe at the Stimulus Bill was a blatant-as-a-brick, well thought out effort to express the sentiment of the Post, it's management who poorly dealt with the outrage, and all who possess a myopic vision of race and feed daily on the New York Post to sustain their outdated beliefs. Surely the solution to this madness is to work at rescinding the excessive reach of Mr.Rupert Murdock, who was given practically unlimited reach to establish his media empirein America despite the rules that initially prevent foreigners from such an enormous foothold on our shores... This is where the focus must be at the upper eschelons and our people must acertain where their dollars go, and redirect them away from Mr. Murdock's media empire. I wish you continued success in your endeavours and as always, I'm in your service....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by TDanielle85 on March 8, 2009 at 9:41pm: Hey Jami!! First off congrats on this great website!! I definitely agree with the fact that the NY Post Cartoon was blatantly racist towards President Obama. To compare any human being to an animal is just cruel anyway regardless of the position that they hold in our society. It almost brings you back to the whole "porch monkey" name that was so often tagged to African Americans in earlier years. Furthermore, the whole chimp incident was I am sure very devastating for the victim and her family. She has suffered some life altering injuries. The chimp bit off her eyelids, nose, lips and hands. She has also suffered major brain damage from the whole ordeal. I can't believe the NY Post had the audacity to find that comical, making a cartoon using the chimp. They may argue that the cartoon was not solely directed towards the chimp incident but it was still offensive. Not only have they offended those who heavily support President Obama, they have also offended those who were saddened by the physical damage and horror that the victim from the chimp attack suffered. People really need to think about how their readers will interpret these cartoons that they come up with and that goes for any magazine or newspaper that includes cartoons in their material.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jami Jackson on March 9, 2009 at 9:55am: Thanks a lot for the comment!! Yea, it was horrific what that monkey did to that woman. Not a laughing matter at all!; ▶ Reply to This