The Cartoon and Trafficking in Racial Symbolism

I'm a fan of political cartoons and political satire. When well done, they can humorously humble those overrun with hubris, subvert stodgy convention, and speak truth to power. I understand satire can sometimes be harsh and be painful to some. But Sean Delonas' cartoon that recently ran in the New York Post -- with two policemen standing over a prostrate chimpanzee sporting two bullet holes and leaking blood under a caption "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill" -- doesn't meet any reasonable satire test. Indeed, the vile cartoon continues the degradation of our political discourse that has gone on too long. The difference here, however, is that it adds a heaping helping of racial symbolism to the mix.

The imagery of this cartoon is foul on at least two levels. First, the truth of police brutality is real in the black community and there are more than a few examples of police killing black people. Second, is the centuries-old degrading device of referring to black people as monkeys. It cannot be said that monkey in the cartoon refers to anyone else but President Barack Obama. This cartoon isn't referring to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, or anyone else involved in it's passage. It's Obama's bill.

It's appropriate and necessary for the Right to oppose Obama on policy differences. That's the primary role of the loyal opposition. It's absolutely out of bounds to traffic in racism to give voice to that opposition. This is no small point. Obama's supporters must understand that if the Right is allowed to push this garbage with impunity, its volume will only increase. The Constitution offers us many guarantees, even those that make us cringe and angry. Those guarantees should be protected at all costs. But that doesn't mean those who promote racial symbolism should be able to do so in comfort.

I believe that there should be a place in our society for vigorous political debate; it's helps to make a society strong. I also believe that it would be a mistake to have media that comprehensively sings the virtues of any political, social, or cultural leader. But it's at least as dangerous to have a media, particularly a venue as powerful as the New York Post, that proffers racial imagery to attack those with which they disagree.

Delonas and the New York Post have hidden behind the horrific details of an event in Connecticut to traffic in racist imagery and gratuitous violence in the name of parody. This is cowardly and they should not be allowed to escape public scorn and ridicule. The aid and comfort they provide to those that have yet to make peace with the fact that the United States of America has a Black President should be met with the unified voices of reason. Make your voice heard: [e-mail].

Michael K. Fauntroy is a professor, author, columnist, and commentator who blogs at MichaelFauntroy.com.

Comments

[RonMar]

I did not see racism or Obama in the cartoon, although sensitive to racial issues for many reasons.
I am British/Choctaw Indian mix and my wife is a fourth generation U.S. citizen of Mexican heritage. We are the only non-black couple attending a church of some 200 from the U.S. and various Caribbean islands. I grew up in Mississippi and Tennessee, entered the Air Force and traveled worldwide, lived four years straight in Asia. I taught school with predominantly Spanish as first language students, founded and ran a small business with men, women and children customers of all racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
In the military we worked in strenuous, combat and non-combat situations without conflict. The military services conducted race and gender relations courses to insure cooperative focus on mission objectives long before any such training in civilian pursuits. Perhaps similar courses are needed in the civilian world now, since AG Eric Holder said we are a nation of cowards reluctant to dialogue about racial issues.
My wife and I were offended by Holder’s belief that we are a nation of cowards and the story by the NY Times married, white woman writer dreaming of Obama in the shower and defending her dreams by saying lots of women want to replace Michelle with Obama. We were not offended by the racial differences but by the immorality of a married woman, regardless of color, wanting to replace Michelle as her husband’s shower and bed partner.

[CherokeeGirl]

Well, then, what DOES it take for you to get offended? There's something to be said against turning the cheek too much. I'm cherokee, but I don' t bore people with my life story. This was racist, end of story. Read a black history book, and maybe you'll understand.

[NDNlady]

Racist stereotypes in politicalo satire spark a national debate, when they are demeaning to African-Americans. I completely agree with the importance of dialogue. However, I would like to point out that the same racially inappropriate caricatures of Indian people make millions of dollars a year for major league sports franchises. America, expand the conversation.

[RonMar]

Of British/Choctaw Indian mix I am not offended by sports or any other reminders of the proud heritage of my people. I believe I am as free of racial prejudice as one can be.
I do tend to see things differently, however than other people I know and with 67 years on the planet with worldwide, ongoing travel that is a lot of people of many racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
For example I was not upset by Hamtramck, MI, honoring a request from Musims to make loudly on speakers the muzzein call to prayer five times a day. I favored it with the provision that Jews might sound Shofar calls to prayer three times a day, Christians ring bells for calls to worship and adherents of other religions to sound gongs or other reminders of the God of their faith.

[CherokeeGirl]

Well, when a cartoon shows a picture of a native american indian being shot by two white police officers, then will you be offended? Two wrongs don't make a right.

Looks to me like some right wingers snuck in here when we were all sleeping trying to sway opinions in the opposite direction. No need to complicate things. This was pure and simple racism and a treasoness act of agression against our president.

[JohnBryansFontaine]

What the "Beware of Dog" sign really means - absolute proof that the Delonas cartoon is viciously racist:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Did-Rupert-Murdoch-Knowing-by-E-Nelson-090218-816.html

[TEBarnes]

I saw the cartoon earlier this week but I was so appalled by it that I didn't notice the sign until last night. I was curious as to what it said, so I pulled it up and checked. I thought it would be a parking related sign. After reading it, I couldn't believe no one else had mentioned this in the various reports I've seen. I agree that the sign is proof of racism. A "Beware of Dog" sign would never be posted on a pole next to an urban street. Those signs are typically posted on doors, fences and gates. Its very presence, I think, is the most blatant and revealing part of the cartoon. I am a white woman who was born during the Civil Rights movement in the South, and although I am too young to remember it, I have seen the videos of police using dogs to control and viciously attack the marchers. I think the sign is meant as a threat. Why else would it be there? Political cartoonist use symbolism as a shortcut to make their point (donkey's are Dems, elephants are Repubs, Lady Justice is justice, the Statue of Liberty is freedom and opportunity, Uncle Sam is patriotism, etc.). The artist chooses these symbols deliberately. This was not inadvertent.

[7granny]

Didn't Darwin claim we all came from apes? I'm white so I guess I should be mad that this cartoon is making fun of me. I understand it was not Obama that wrote the stimulus bill but Pelosi & her group in the House. One of the biggest problems in this country is that people have lost their sense of humor. Why do some people always have to read something unsavory into everything? Get a grip people. There are a lot worse things going on in this country to be upset about than some stupid cartoon.

[Nommo]

You ought to actually read Darwin instead of guessing at what he said.

[RonMar]

I believe 7granny has read Darwin and did not see her question as any more than an opening to her post making some good points. Among those points are the loss of a sense of humor, reading something unsavory into too many things, and the need for all of us to get a grip. At the rate we are going with Political Correctness Good Humor ice cream will soon not be available in chocolate-covered, white ice cream bars.

[CherokeeGirl]

you are wasting your lack of talent on blogs. start thinking for yourself, then come back.

[sdskelton03]

I don't believe you when you state your belief that the chimpanzee represents Obama.

If you actually believed that, you may have mentioned how inapropriate it is to depict the president with a number of bullet holes in his chest.

I think this is just another example of left wing race-baiting.

The shame of it is, real racism exists, and your cries of wolf aren't helping.

[papapj]

The REAL shame is that when racism occurs and is pointed out by those who are affected by it, people like you shrug off their concerns as you are oblivious and indifferent to them. The upshot is that idiots who try to push the envelope by publishing such outright obsecene trash become emboldened, and point to sociopaths who hold the same opinion as you as their arbiters, encouraging them to push the envelope even further.

[CherokeeGirl]

bleh :( Get off your high horse. We can react how ever we want. Some people think they are so high and mighty. I bet if I said something about McCain you would come unglued. Hypocrisy.

[neoprimordial]

Here's a take on how they reasoned publishing that cartoon:

a. They don't like Obama or his policies, so they'll try to disparage him when they can (à la Limbaugh).

b. They are insensitive and boorish (and racist and perhaps virulently intolerant), so whatever gets published will be provocative.

c1. Authorities in Conn. kill an out-of-control chimp.
c2. Simian imagery has been used to disparage Black people for centuries, right up to the present day.

d. The cartoonist comes up with the image of two White cops, one having shot that chimp, and the other with the punchline: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

e. The editor(s) allows the cartoon to be published, knowing that it will be considered a distinct outrage to people both Black and non-Black. As long as there's lots of publicity and money to be made, they’ll go ahead with it. (Consider that if everything remains the same except the president is White, the "joke" actually becomes funny.)

f. They issue a non-apology over the offensiveness of the cartoon.

They knew what they were doing, what would happen, and where they wanted to go with it, up to a point. I think it would be good to have happen something they didn't expect or didn't want to happen--namely, a serious and severe boycotting of that paper. A serious wake-up call is in order, that their garbage is no longer acceptable.

[Blueboy1938]

It is really impossible to sort out "intent" in this controversy. Who knows what the cartoonist was thinking when he conceived the piece? He may have actually believed that he was collectively condemning the stimulus bill's proponents by inferring that the dead chimp was responsible.

However, editorial cartoons do not appear in publications without editorial scrutiny. Can we extend the presumption of "innocent" intent to all the people who laid eyes on it before the decision was made to run it? Not bloody likely. If they did not have any idea that the clumsily violent and ineptly non-sequitur piece could and most likely would be misconstrued, then they are at best guilty of incompetence. A major responsibility of a publication's editors is to second guess whatever is published to avoid miscommunication, liable, slander, and the odd grammatical error. Clearly, they had their collective heads up their rectal apertures. Unless, that is, they made a calculated judgement call that their disingenuous denials after the fact would be sufficient cover for running what they bloody well knew was an egregiously offensive racist dig at the President of the United States.

[MzPat]

Thank you Mr. Fauntroy for pointing out that there is a larger imagery connected with this cattoon. The issue of police brutality is a harsh reality for many folks, and specifically to African Americans in the Newy City area.. Our young men carry an instinctive fear of the law, because the law has proven over and over again that their lives are expendable.
We all know that as much at Obama did not 'write' the bill, word for word, he is ostensibly it's author, and if it is that the image of the chimp was intended to have been representative of all those who support it, then why wasn't there a hoard of chimps around the dead one...
To those of you who say you are tired of black folks linking everything to race, 'do not criticize the Indian until you have walked a mile in his mocassins'. Stop being dismissive about our shameful history.

[lynjs]

There is a woman hurt in all of this along with an animal that should have been in a wildlife preserve and the racial overtones toward a President and a segment of the population. These people just don't see the damage that they've inflicted toward particularly the lady and her family and all involved. Maybe one day wisdom will come to them and make them understand. But I wont hold my breath.

[MagisterLudi]

One story for Mr. Fauntroy:
two novice monks arguing. They approach the old master.
--Brother, help us solve the argument. I say that flag over there on the pole is moving. My friend says "no, flag is not moving, it is the wind moving the flag.'
Please help us solve this riddle.

Old monk replied, ' You're both wrong, it is your minds that are moving.'"

[wingnutslayer]

We're seeing what happens when a company cannot sell their product every day. Bankruptcies galore. Please add the NY Post to that list. The cartoon was insulting in that contemporary right wing fashion, insulting on so many levels it's difficult to know where to start. Let's just say that it appears to have been created for people with the sense of humor of a 15 year old boy, a not very mature one at that. The cartoonist, not a master of well thought out satire, would seem to be a 16 year old boy, slightly more intelligent than his audience but so eager to cause an uproar for the sake of an uproar that whatever message he intended just goes up in smoke. But since the GOP cynically utilized the racial animosity of the South for their own gain when the Democratic Party threw in with civil rights, this kind of thing doesn't really surprise anymore. It's very in character.

[LeftistGuerrilla]

The only remedy for bad speech is more speech. Righties traffic in hate speech. But by continuing to talk about it I think we may be playing into thier hands.

[ravencalling]

To claim this cartoon is depicting the fact that the bill is so bad a monkey could have written it, and not just any monkey but the one that went rabid (figure of speech) would have had far more credibility if the monkey itself was labeled as the stimulus bill. To say they will have to get someone else to write the bill, implies the police are assassinating the monkey because it was rabid when it wrote the bill. It is comparing the person who wrote or sponsored the bill to a monkey. It is referring to a singular person or spokesperson, which could be none other then Obama. Otherwise it would have depicted an entire troop of monkeys not a singular monkey. So finally it very much is saying Obama is that monkey. The question then is, who are the police in this cartoon from a satire perspective? Who are they supposed to be? Well who is against the stimulus other then the Republican opposition. Now with all of that said, it is offensive enough without any racial implications. Those who oppose the stimulus should shoot the person responsible because no other means will suffice. The monkey = the President. Therefore the President should be viewed as not a human being but an animal, and one who was previously okay while domesticated, but whom is no longer controlled and so should therefore be eliminated.

[spartancaver]

Rave, I going to have to agree with you on this one. I have been hearing about the cartoon on CNN and it is not as "racial" as the New Yorker's infamous... I took the dead monkey as the old sayings go it is so easy a trained monkey could do it... Or it is so stupid looks like a monkey did it... Maybe if there was an elephant sitting on a donkey that would have been as much to the point... That one side was trying to "kill" the stupid foolishness the other side had produced... I just can't tie the monkey to the president in this case...

[CherokeeGirl]

The president pushed the stimulus bill, the monkey is the stimulus bill's author. One and One equals two....duh.

[tangie]

Thank you for bringing up the point that beyond the political, the "cartoon" made light of the distruction of a woman's life. I mean, this peice of carp was so offensive on so many levels I don't know what was worse. It was just plain wrong, and the editor needs to find a new line of work if he bought the author's denials of racisism.

[Spesabsquemetu]

Many of you good Americans have been deeply upset and troubled by a recent “cartoon” published by the NY POST depicting the assassination of a “chimp” who is identified and inferred in the cartoon as being the author of the Federal Stimulus Bill, just signed into law by the President of the United States.
The “chimp” is gunned down, laying in a pool of blood, while one law enforcement official says to the other: “I guess they’ll have to find someone else to write their next stimulus bill.”

If you feel that this cartoon depicts racism against our President, and all African Americans, and depicts a violent act being suggested against our President, or the lawmakers who wrote that bill, contact this number and file a complaint:

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

1 877 382-4357

If you live in NY State, contact your senators:

Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
Democrat - New York

531 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
DC Phone: [phone]

Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY)

313 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
[phone]
Web Form: schumer.se­nate.gov/n­ew_website­/contact.c­fm

[CherokeeGirl]

will do, and thanks for posting this. EVERY BODY CALL! :)