Trayvon Martin Cartoon: University Of Texas Student Newspaper Pulls Controversial Illustration

The Daily Texan, a student newspaper at the University of Texas in Austin, pulled a controversial cartoon about the media coverage of the Trayvon Martin case on Tuesday.

The cartoon critiques the media coverage of Martin's death, which has become a national episode. A woman reading to a child from a book labeled "Treyvon [sic] Martin and the Case of Yellow Journalism" says in a speech bubble "And then, the BIG BAD WHITE man killed the handsome, sweet, innocent colored boy." It ran in the March 27, 2012 edition of the DT.

The cartoon was done by Stephanie Eisner. Gawker noted the student paper pulled the cartoon from their website on Tuesday afternoon. However, a copy can still be seen online in the PDF copy of their print edition.

Eisner's drawing is not the first cartoon to editorialize the Martin case. Bloggers on the Daily Kos and artists like J.D. Crowe and Rob Rogers have offered their own takes in cartoon form.

UPDATE, 9:30 a.m., 3/28/12:

The Daily Texan reposted the cartoon online with a statement from the editorial board:

"A controversial editorial cartoon on the Trayvon Martin shooting was published Tuesday on the Opinion page of The Daily Texan. The Daily Texan Editorial Board recognizes the sensitive nature of the cartoon’s subject matter. The views expressed in the cartoon are not those of the editorial board. They are those of the artist. It is the policy of the editorial board to publish the views of our columnists and cartoonists, even if we disagree with them. Please direct any inquiries to [e-mail]"

The Daily Texan's cartoon:

UPDATE, 5:15 p.m., 3/28/12:

Stephanie Eisner, the staff cartoonist, issued the following statement apologizing for the illustration:

"I apologize for what was in hindsight an ambiguous cartoon related to the Trayvon Martin shooting. I intended to contribute thoughtful commentary on the media coverage of the incident, however this goal fell flat. I would like to make it explicitly clear that I am not a racist, and that I am personally appalled by the killing of Trayvon Martin. I regret any pain the wording or message of my cartoon may have caused."

The Daily Texan's faculty adviser also made a statement about the controversy, but it has since been taken down.

The Daily Texan Staff Adviser, Doug Warren, responds to the controversial #TrayvonMartin editorial cartoon. dailytexanonline.com/blog/talking-t…

— The Daily Texan (@thedailytexan) March 28, 2012

Warren told Jim Romenesko that he took it down because he didn't think he was helping the situation.

Take a look at what people are saying about it on Twitter:

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Comments

[IndependentRule]

10:41 AM on 04/20/2012

A budding successful political Cartoonist. and yet no one gets arrested for "placing a bounty on another US Citizen"

[robwriter]

03:54 PM on 04/09/2012

It's Texas. The same state that gave us Rick Perry, Dubbya, Louie Gohmert, Tom DeLay, Dick Armey, Phil Gramm, Charley Wilson, and a host of other befuddled dimwits and losers too numerous to mention. To paraphrase Machiavelli, "He who builds on the people of Texas, builds on mud."

[Feldspar]

12:14 PM on 09/10/2012

You forgot Ann Richards, LB Johnson, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Natalie Maines, Barbara Lee, Kris Kristofferson... I think we're in agreement.

[Avis Brooks]

09:36 AM on 04/05/2012

This comes from a student in Texas. Texas .... the land of poor education, racism and big petrochemical industry. I moved away from Texas for just this type of attitude. My child could not receive an education worth having in the land of the education president. What Bush did for Texas as govenor was take the eductional system from ranking 49 to 47. Some progress but not nearly enough. When my son skipped school for 3 weeks I took him back, went to the adminstration offices where I learned he hadn't even been missed. That is just wrong on so many levels. Just like this cartoon.

[FancyAmerican]

09:31 AM on 04/05/2012

pathetic

[QuantumBios]

03:56 AM on 04/03/2012

This is good actually...it means that people are waking up to the medias complicity in pushing a certain narrative.

[IndependentRule]

10:41 AM on 04/20/2012

Exactly....except when it doesn't

F&F

[IndependentAndProud]

07:03 PM on 04/02/2012

And the "cartoonist" doesn't even have talent.

[RajaSelvam]

02:07 PM on 04/02/2012

If this is not from a racist, I wonder who it is from

[mollybeejay]

05:27 PM on 04/02/2012

A racist that doesn't want to believe that she is a racist. After, some of her best friends are people who call Black people colored.

[Rhonda Kelso]

11:29 AM on 04/02/2012

We have free speech to reveal who we really are. racist or not racist.

[pericles21]

11:27 AM on 04/02/2012

Stephanie’s intentions seem honorable but her age or lack of maturity, yet, did her in. IMHO she should not have been “fired” but given a chance to defend her position and apologize.

[mollybeejay]

05:28 PM on 04/02/2012

There is no defending the indefensible.

[chinnha]

11:32 AM on 04/03/2012

she can't defend her position because once somebody cries racism all logic goes out the window and anyone who tries to debate intelligently is just told they're a racist too even if they dont know it.

[dwhuston]

11:15 AM on 04/02/2012

I'm pretty sure she does not want people to think she is a racist.

[mollybeejay]

05:30 PM on 04/02/2012

Then she should have thought about quote that I will paraphrase: "It is better to be thought a racist than to publish a cartoon that removes all doubt."

[southernman]

08:00 PM on 04/02/2012

none of them do

[boka4u2]

11:08 AM on 04/02/2012

Here is another questionable news item, this one concerning sport. The Phoenix Republic's headline last week, just before the final 4 men's basketball games, read, "For big boys only." I doubt if many white readers would give such a headline a second thought, but at a time of volatile racial tension, a word, other than boy, could have been used to describe an event comprised of mostly African American athletes. It's a small thing to most folks, but the word "boy" has a long history, & none of it is positive.

[nnears]

09:33 PM on 04/02/2012

No, "big boys" is a term most mothers use on their young boys growing up from toddler to kindergartner and up.

[chinnha]

11:32 AM on 04/03/2012

Are you kidding?

[skatscan]

09:27 AM on 04/02/2012

Oh please God, Tell me she ain't related to the great WILL Eisner.

[Tmus82]

08:30 AM on 04/02/2012

Pathetic Attempt at cartoon. Newspapers keep going downhill and losing anyone with talent skill or brains.

[William Jamison]

07:01 AM on 04/02/2012

Her claim that she is "not a racist" doesn't ring true.

[Grandma Koolfinger]

01:58 PM on 04/02/2012

Why not? She is making a comment about the media.

[Omer the 3rd]

10:42 PM on 03/31/2012

This cartoon is more a jab at the media, for their lopsided coverage, and extreme bias. The unfortunate result of it is that the public gets all charged up, and racism is flamed. In a situation such as this, the media should just put out the news, instead of putting any spin on it. Both families deserve better, and so do we, the unwitting public! May God bless all involved, and bring both families peace.

[skatscan]

09:31 AM on 04/02/2012

Only if you include Fox News, would the media in the Trayvon Martin case be out of line. NOTHING the mainstream media reporting including what Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton said.
But that's your right wingers for ya. They feel threatened when a black man cries out for justice but think nothing of a mob of armed white people calling for bloodshed and overthrowing our country.

[Omer the 3rd]

02:16 PM on 04/02/2012

Man, you need to proof-read. What was your point on the two fine 'reverends'? And what 'mob of armed white people' are you refering to? Overthrowing the country? What news source told you these things?

[chinnha]

11:33 AM on 04/03/2012

Al sharpton and Jesse Jackson are two disgusting hatemongers who encourage racial tension and exploit the deaths of children for their own gain. They dont belong in the media.