New York Post in racism row over chimpanzee cartoon - UPDATE: Apology not accepted: Sharpton not satisfied with Murdoch's statement on controversial Post cartoon

[sws4420]

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/02/18/chimpcartoon460.jpg
African-American activist Al Sharpton claims newspaper may have portrayed Barack Obama using racist imagery

At first glance, the main editorial cartoon in today's New York Post seemed like just another lurid reference to the story that the tabloid had been covering with breathless abandon for two days running - the shooting by Connecticut police on Monday of a pet chimpanzee that viciously attacked his owner's friend.

But the caption cast the cartoon in a more sinister light. "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," it read, prompting accusations that the Post was peddling a longstanding racist slur by portraying president Barack Obama, who signed the bill into law yesterday, as an ape.

In a statement issued today, Al Sharpton, the Baptist minister and civil rights activist, called the cartoon "troubling at best, given the historic racist attacks [on] African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys".

He added: "Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama ... and has become synonymous with him, it is not a reach to wonder: are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?... The Post should at best clarify what point they were trying to make, or in fact reprimand their cartoonist."

David Paterson, the governor of New York state, told a local television station that it was "very important for the New York Post to explain what the cartoon was intended to portray".

In response, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Col Allen, noted Sharpton's love of media attention. "The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut," he said. "It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."

T-shirts portraying Obama as the children's book character Curious George, a monkey, made occasional appearances among audience members at Republican rallies during last year's election campaign, and a similar stuffed doll continues to be advertised online.

The Post's cartoonist Sean Delonas, meanwhile, has frequently been accused of bigotry: the New York gossip blog Gawker once nicknamed him "the Picasso of prejudice".

The criticism has centred on his portrayals of gay characters, which have linked homosexuality to bestiality. The pressure group Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has repeatedly called his work "juvenile" and "immature".

The Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, endorsed Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, but John McCain in the general election.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/18/new-york-post-cartoon-race

[mb*]

i don't think it was necessarily intentional, but that was the first thing that popped in my head when i saw it. (i didnt pay attention to the headline)

i think they were going for the "so ____ a monkey could do it" and it backfired.

i can see how it would be offensive to them, but i dont think it was intentional.

[debbie]

I was aware of the headlines and instantly made the connection.
And ... I thought it was funny.:whistle:

[Dave]

I think it was intentional. They siezed a perfect opportunity. The NYP isn't stupid when it comes to this type of stuff.

[trojanmiro]

I believe it was intentional and racist. Drama sells papers.

[mb*]

thats a huge publication. i can't imagine they would be intentionally racist and alienate quite a large part of their readers to smack high fives with a bunch of whiteys or whatever.

it just doesn't make sense.

and unintentional misperception is more likely.

[trojanmiro]

everyone knows the age old correlation between blacks and apes. Anyone who has at least completed the 6th grade anyways. I don't buy it.

[sws4420]

Horseshit. It was a commentary about how stupid the stimulus was and it was correlated with a current event.

If all you have in your toolbox is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[Dave]

This whole thing is gonna be spun however the paper, media and public want it to be.

[Cutesunshine]

I think it was intentional, and comical.

[trojanmiro]

Horseshit. It was a commentary about how stupid the stimulus was and it was correlated with a current event.

If all you have in your toolbox is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Im not exactly sure what you are implying with the hammer analogy. I understand the correlation in reference to al sharpton but not myself. i simply just looked at the cartoon without reading the article and thats the first thing that popped into my head. I know he has a tendency to reach for straws sometimes at things that are pretty ridiculous and proclaims them to be racist but i think he has a bit of a point here. even if the true intent was not meant to be racist, any idiot would see the correlation before it hit the press. thus making it intentional.

[sws4420]

Oh, I was referring to Sharpton. The only tool he has is his Racism Card.

The people that follow the news closely knew what it was referring to.

[Thomas the Solitary]

Dude. Open your eyes. It looks like it came straight out of a Georgia Newspaper back in the what, mid 50's? Maybe early 60's?

It is racist.

[LLL]

The comparison to Bomber was the first thing I thought of......my wife's first impression, too. Someone at the Post will lose their job over this one.

Maybe Fred Dicker will comment on it on 6 tonight.

[sws4420]

The comparison to Bomber was the first thing I thought of......my wife's first impression, too. Someone at the Post will lose their job over this one.I doubt it. That cartoonist has had this stuff happen before. There's no such thing as bad publicity.

[sws4420]

Sharpton ramps up protest over NY Post cartoon

The Rev. Al Sharpton Sunday ramped up his protest against the New York Post's decision to print a cartoon that has been criticized as depicting President Barack Obama as a monkey. His comments came a day after the leader of the NAACP called for the firing of both the paper's cartoonist and editor.

Sharpton, with City Council member Letitia James (D-Brooklyn), spoke to reporters in front of radio station KISS FM headquarters in lower Manhattan, where they called for the City Council to review the Post's employment records because they questioned whether the newsroom staff represents the city's diversity.

But they shied away from NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous' call for the ouster of cartoonist Sean Delonas and editor-in-chief Col Allan. "Yes, the cartoonist ought to be dealt with, and the editor," said Sharpton. But he said "just firing them and not dealing with the overall problems of who's in the newsroom" doesn't address what he termed the "unfair setup" of staffing.

Sharpton also said he was starting an online petition drive to collect signatures in an effort to force the Federal Communications Commission to remove the waiver that allows the Post's parent company, News Corp., to run more than one media outlet in the area. "This is not the first time they have denigrated people of color," said James. "Now is the time to do it."

View local car accident gallery Jealous, speaking at the NAACP's annual meeting Saturday, said the cartoon was "an invitation of assassination" because the monkey - depicted as shot dead by police with the words "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill" - could be construed as being Obama.

The drawing "picks off the scabs of all the racial wounds," Jealous said.

A spokeswoman for the newspaper referred The Associated Press to the paper's editorial about the cartoon, which said "a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism . . . most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize."

James and Sharpton said they will be staging a protest on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday.


http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-nypost2312486582feb23,0,4985442.story

Here's some other cartoons done by this guy. How come none of these made any headlines?
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/02/custom_1234980352719_delonas5.jpg

http://www.observer.com/files/imagecache/article/files/delonas102408.jpg

http://www.topsocialite.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/pagesixcartoon.jpg

http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/images/12012006.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2009/02/delonas.jpg

http://towleroad.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/post_cartoon.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/resources/2006/11/11102006.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/R59k9CADCYI/AAAAAAAAA7o/HOvZZ9okrhA/s320/DelonasKennedyClinton01292008.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/02/custom_1234979886448_delonas2.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/02/custom_1234981133701_delonas9.jpg

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2009/02/09132005.jpg

[LLL]

The guy should be fired....I don't find any of them very entertaining.....well, except for Hillary going off the Chappy bridge.

[Angie]

I think he should be fired too. I think his comics are tasteless and ignorant

[Thomas the Solitary]

They guy in the delivery room was mildly funny. But then again, there was probably a back story that I'm not familiar with.

It got a snort out of me. The other ones, a few of them, I said "WHOOOOOA!"

Too far.

[sws4420]

They guy in the delivery room was mildly funny. But then again, there was probably a back story that I'm not familiar with.

It got a snort out of me. The other ones, a few of them, I said "WHOOOOOA!"

Too far.It was the story of the pregnant man who used to be a woman but had a sex change. The docs are trying to figure out how the kid is coming out.

[Thomas the Solitary]

the same way the sperm got in?

[sws4420]

Apology not accepted: Sharpton not satisfied with Murdoch's statement on controversial Post cartoon

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/02/25/amd_apology2.jpg

The Rev. Al Sharpton was still not satisfied Tuesday after New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch issued an unprecedented personal apology over a controversial cartoon that was branded racist.

Standing on the steps of City Hall, flanked by several City Council members and civil rights leaders, Sharpton continued his calls for a boycott over the illustration, which critics say compared President Obama to a chimpanzee.

He also demanded that the billionaire businessman explain how he will ensure that a similar gaffe will not occur in the future.

"[Murdoch] says in his statement this will never happen again. Well, he does not say how he intends to see that it never happens again," Sharpton said in front of supporters holding signs reading, "Yes we can shut you down NY Post!" and "How do you spell racism? New York Post."

"Is he asking the community to trust those that did it, to trust their judgment in the future?"

Sharpton called on Murdoch to come up with a plan for increasing diversity in his newsrooms. He said he's meeting with Federal Communications Commission members Wednesday to discuss the waiver that lets the Australian tycoon own several media outlets in the city.

Murdoch published his apology in The Post on Tuesday, declaring, "The buck stops with me."

"I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you, without a doubt, that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation," he said.

"It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.

"Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted."

Mayor Bloomberg also weighed in, saying the apology was "the right thing to do," but adding that he hopes the community can move on.

An HCD Research poll of self-reported Democrats, Republicans and independents showed that a majority of voters in all three groups believe the cartoon had racist undertones.

More than half (61%) of those questioned felt it was directed toward Obama and that the editor who approved it should be held responsible.


http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/02/24/2009-02-24_apology_not_accepted_sharpton_not_satisf.html

[LLL]

More than half (61%) of those questioned felt it was directed toward Obama and that the editor who approved it should be held responsible.

That's pretty much how I saw it. At the same time I think when you get the billionaire owner to personally apologize you've gotten significant attention. I am trying to remember......did Jesse ever apologize for saying on camera Bomber's nuts should be cut off? Or, are we seeing the age-old double standard?

[sws4420]

Sadly, yes.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/09/jesse.jackson.comment/

Edit: Fuck Sharpton. He's is irrelevant.

[LLL]

Fuck Sharpton. He's is irrelevant.

Agree totally. He damages the case in my opinion. Clear thinking people in positions of responsibility should be denouncing this cartoonist and editor. Or, on SNL. I'd bet the next live one does something with this one..............probably Gov. Patterson bumbling around demanding and apology.

[Thomas the Solitary]

Not to bring anything crazy up or anything, but this clip I ran into and I was reminded of this thread.
It's pretty good. Funny, even.

bNfztsWJMb0