Sharpton Doens't Like this!

[Magic Mom]

It was tastless and should have been thought through a bit more; but does anyone think that maybe the cartoonist was thinking (as many of us sometimes do) of "those monkeys (as in not being very bright) in Washington" instead of referring to the president's race?

I posted an article/blog from a political cartoonist the other day. He wrote about sort of walking that political correctness line; that drawing Bush as a monkey would have been OK, but not Obama, because that may be considered racist, even if the cartoonist didn't intend to be racist. He wasn't totally condoning that train of thought (political correctness in satire), just discussing how their hands are tied when portraying African Americans.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Look, I don't know if this was about Obama. It could not be, but don't act as if this wasn't questionable. The mere fact that whatever satire of that picture - it's questionable, in poor taste, or we all don't get it. It's not appropriate. Had they had several monkeys (one in a dress) I would have thought they were referring to Dem congress - I would get that – maybe not like it, but we’d get it? This was in extremely poor taste. Why refer to "they" in the picture, but ONLY show ONE monkey? That seems racist to me.

So much for saying, "I'll let you be the judge."

 

[Geoff_M]

djm99, I think you're on to something here. That treatment of Obama is unprecedented!!!

 

[hentob]

Then what was this about,

Ahhh..This one is cute

I have always loved Curious George

 

[luvmy3]

djm99 liking Obama (or anyone esle) to a monkey can mean many things. BTW have you googled monkey and George Bush?
But I guess if you are looking for racism then thats all you would find

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

djm, it is obvious to me that you are seeing this thing a whole different way then me. Having said that, those racist and offensive images you posted here have absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand. I'm not sure why you see fit to spread this racism.

 

[Scurvy]

But I guess if you are looking for racism then thats all you would find

Absolutely! Unless everything comparing previous presidents to monkeys or chimps was racist, there's no reason to automatically think that something comparing the current president to a chimp or monkey would be racist. And of course that's assuming that this cartoon was about Obama, which clearly it wasn't. Now if had said "We need to find someone else to sign the bill" then maybe you could say it was about him. But it didn't, and Obama did not write the bill. Surely no one thinks he did, so I don't understand why anyone thinks that the cartoon was about him!

 

[djm99]

djm99, I think you're on to something here. That treatment of Obama is unprecedented!!!

I saw those too when I goggled Obama and monkey. I guess whites have a long history of being referred to as monkeys. That was portrayed in cartoons and advertisements during a very regrettable time in our history. I know when I saw those GWB pictures it was a reference of either policy or some kind of action, NEVER would I had even thought that it was a reference of his race. You can't say the same thing for the monkey Obama pictures though. You can’t say some are racist but others aren’t. That’s like young black youths saying the N-word isn’t racist, but if a white says it - it’s racist. You don't want race to be thrown in the mix, don't do BS that can be interpreted as racist. It's that easy. Again, my statement above is with the "they" statement and the ONE monkey shot. More than one wrote the stimulus plan and what does a MONKEY have to do with the stimulus plan?

 

[luvsJack]

I posted an article/blog from a political cartoonist the other day. He wrote about sort of walking that political correctness line; that drawing Bush as a monkey would have been OK, but not Obama, because that may be considered racist, even if the cartoonist didn't intend to be racist. He wasn't totally condoning that train of thought (political correctness in satire), just discussing how their hands are tied when portraying African Americans.

I can certainly see what he is talking about. I would imagine that it is difficult to constantly be looking at everything you write or draw and figure out whether someone will be offended by it.

 

[robinb]

I said this on the other thread:

The artist should have put the word "Congress" on the monkey to make that clear that's what the chimp represented congress. It is a common tool for political cartoonists to label parts of their cartoon when they want to make sure there is no ambiguity on what they are attempting to represent.

I'm adding onto this thread:
Either the cartoon was about congress and the chimp should have been labeled with the word "congress" or the cartoon was about the president and which is indeed racist. No, it's NOT FAIR that President Bush was compared to a chimp (thanks for the Bush v/s chimp way-back machine ) and President Obama cannot be compared to the same animal. Too bad for the political cartoonists ... sadly the racists who have compared black people to primates over the years have taken that away from them. They will have to come up with another animal to represent our current president when poking fun at him.

 

[Magic Mom]

I said this on the other thread:

The artist should have put the word "Congress" on the monkey to make that clear that's what the chimp represented congress. It is a common tool for political cartoonists to label parts of their cartoon when they want to make sure there is no ambiguity on what they are attempting to represent.

I'm adding onto this thread:
Either the cartoon was about congress and the chimp should have been labeled with the word "congress" or the cartoon was about the president and which is indeed racist. No, it's NOT FAIR that President Bush was compared to a chimp (thanks for the Bush v/s chimp way-back machine ) and President Obama cannot be compared to the same animal. Too bad for the political cartoonists ... sadly the racists who have compared black people to primates over the years have taken that away from them. They will have to come up with another animal to represent our current president when poking fun at him.

Double standards are devisive, and are one of the reasons race issues will never go away.

 

[ols386]

djm99, I think you're on to something here. That treatment of Obama is unprecedented!!!

hmm, I hadn't seen some of these photos before.

 

[djm99]

Alright I'll allow you to play crazy. I have no desire to give a history lesson. I goggled white people and monkey admittedly a picture of GWB did come up but it was mostly pictures of monkeys, a few cute t-shirt, and baby outfits. I went to like page 5 and still nothing offensive other than the GW picture. Then I goggled black people and monkeys and the VERY FIRST image was offensive. The website went on and on about how blacks are monkeys. Regardless if the NYP didn't intend for the picture to be racist/offensive (because in truth I really don't know) I can understand why some would immediately conclude that it is. You are more than welcome to agree or disagree.

 

[luvsJack]

I said this on the other thread:

The artist should have put the word "Congress" on the monkey to make that clear that's what the chimp represented congress. It is a common tool for political cartoonists to label parts of their cartoon when they want to make sure there is no ambiguity on what they are attempting to represent.

I'm adding onto this thread:
Either the cartoon was about congress and the chimp should have been labeled with the word "congress" or the cartoon was about the president and which is indeed racist. No, it's NOT FAIR that President Bush was compared to a chimp (thanks for the Bush v/s chimp way-back machine ) and President Obama cannot be compared to the same animal. Too bad for the political cartoonists ... sadly the racists who have compared black people to primates over the years have taken that away from them. They will have to come up with another animal to represent our current president when poking fun at him.

But, isn't that putting the power into the hands of the racist by allowing the word or picture to continue to be a racist term? If everyone will stop thinking of "monkey"or other primate as a racist term or name or whatever, would it not then cease to be one?

 

[Scurvy]

Double standards are devisive, and are one of the reasons race issues will never go away.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I said this on the other thread:

The artist should have put the word "Congress" on the monkey to make that clear that's what the chimp represented congress. It is a common tool for political cartoonists to label parts of their cartoon when they want to make sure there is no ambiguity on what they are attempting to represent.
I'm adding onto this thread:
Either the cartoon was about congress and the chimp should have been labeled with the word "congress" or the cartoon was about the president and which is indeed racist. No, it's NOT FAIR that President Bush was compared to a chimp (thanks for the Bush v/s chimp way-back machine ) and President Obama cannot be compared to the same animal. Too bad for the political cartoonists ... sadly the racists who have compared black people to primates over the years have taken that away from them. They will have to come up with another animal to represent our current president when poking fun at him.

I know we're talking about the NYP here, but perhaps a touch of ambiguity belies a bit of trust in the public's intelligence to make the intended connection. Labeling is often used in political cartooning, but not always.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Now onto the pictures; were those published by the NYT? If not, they aren't relevant to this discussion. The pictures posted above are racist. The cartoon, nope.

Actually it is relevant. It shows why some may look at the cartoon and view it as racist.

We can't ignore the fact that blacks have been compared to primates. We also can't ignore how bills are written/passed.

I don't think it's a stretch for someone to look at the cartoon and view it as racist. Nor do I think it's a stretch to see it as only a jab at congress.

 

[robinb]

If everyone will stop thinking of "monkey"or other primate as a racist term or name or whatever, would it not then cease to be one?

No, I don't see how embracing racial stereotypes will solve anything.

 

[robinb]

I know we're talking about the NYP here, but perhaps a touch of ambiguity belies a bit of trust in the public's intelligence to make the intended connection. Labeling is often used in political cartooning, but not always.

So ... those who did view this cartoon as possibly racist are not intelligent? Honestly, I think the cartoonist left it ambiguous for a reason. We're all talking about his cartoon, right?

 

[luvmy3]

You don't want race to be thrown in the mix, don't do BS that can be interpreted as racist. It's that easy.

How about instead, you just don't throw things in the mix that ARE racist. Why do we now have to be careful of how someone else interprets these things? It seems like thats their own personal problem, not the problem with whats written or illustrated, or said.
(you, us, we, them meaning all/any people)

As far as the single chimp the only thing I can think of is that the cartoonist wanted to include 2 of the biggest news stories in his satire. I don't think he should have had to worry about the backlash of Al Sharpton but maybe he could have been more conscientious of the poor woman who was mauled and her family