Obama - Dead Monkey Cartoon

What Was Post Thinking Running Obama Monkey Cartoon?
Nicholas Carlson|Feb. 18, 2009, 3:25 PM|62
Tags: Media, Newspapers, News Corp, Politics

People are understandably upset by Sean Delonas's cartoon in today's New York Post.

The Huffington Post's version has 2000 comments. Al Sharpton says, "The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."

New York Post editor-in-chief Col Allen responded to the criticism:

"The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut...It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."

We're happy to believe Col when he says Sean wasn't trying to be racist. But that doesn't mean the Col and company weren't braindead to run it.

I could see this cartoon being made as a racist slight against Obama but I really don't think that was the intention. What really surprises me is that nobody caught the correlation between a black man, a monkey and a black president. You simply cannot refer to a shot-dead monkey as the president of the US with all the hate mail he has been receiving.

When I first heard about this story I was pretty neutral. I am against most forms of censorship and I believe some people take things a little too far and get offended at the drop of a hat. However, once I actually saw the cartoon, I sided with the people that were against it. My main complaint about it is I have absolutely no idea what the cartoonist is trying to say if he does not intend for it to be viewed in a racist context. I looked at it with Herold and Carmona and the three of us just could not come up with a funny, non-racist take to it. I researched it very briefly and supposedly the cartoonist was trying to combine the stimulus plan to the incident where a pet monkey went mad after ingesting some drugs and had to be shot. But where is the correlation between the two? I just don't get it. I personally think the cartoon should be pulled (impossible), the NY Times should issue an apology (they have twice so far, I believe) and as for the cartoonist...I don't necessarily believe he should be fired, but he should be either fined or put on probation of some sort.

I think there is a decent explination for the cartoon.

They used the closest animal to humans (in terms of looks and intelligence) but clearly a monkey is not as smart as a human. It could have just as well been a dog, a parrot, a lion or a raccoon (which could also be given a racist twist) but he went with a monkey. All told, it was a slight at the intelligence of the stimulus package, not the writer's ethnicity.

As i said before; someone else should have caught the racial connotation but if it did only see two people's desks before it hit print...then i could see the error happening.

My take seems to be pretty close to Booba's. One of two things has to be true about the cartoonist:
1-He is very bad at his job.
or
2-He is racist.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that he is not funny and doesn't know how to create a decent editorial statement.

ethan wrote:My take seems to be pretty close to Booba's. One of two things has to be true about the cartoonist:
1-He is very bad at his job.
or
2-He is racist.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that he is not funny and doesn't know how to create a decent editorial statement.

I don't know dude...if you had been in a career for say 15 years and were to be judged on your worst days work...that might be a little harsh. I don't know anything about this guy but yeah, this cartoon failed. I am not ready to call him a failure because of it.

Although the cartoon did suck and did not deliver much more than a racist message.

[quote="carter"]

ethan wrote:My take seems to be pretty close to Booba's. One of two things has to be true about the cartoonist:
1-He is very bad at his job.
or
2-He is racist.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that he is not funny and doesn't know how to create a decent editorial statement.

I don't know dude...if you had been in a career for say 15 years and were to be judged on your worst days work...that might be a little harsh. I don't know anything about this guy but yeah, this cartoon failed. I am not ready to call him a failure because of it.



Listen, Carter. (you know something is going to be blowhard-y when it starts with "listen") Don't come in here being all level headed and reasonable. I make sure to put on my judgmental rage hat before I enter the Cheese message boards, and I don't want any empathetic pansy to come in here with his "We all have bad days" bullshit. When I have a bad day, somewhere between 32 and 150 of our nation's youth suffer...possibly irreparably. When this guy had a bad day, he made a cartoon that could possibly be racist but doesn't really have any impact on anything. Which is worse? HUH?! WHICH IS WORSE??????

Damnit, Ethan. Do you know how much it stings to have coffee come out one's nose?

Hey man, i like your judgemental hat. But do you really think that the severe damage (that I am sure you are more than capable of) that YOU could personally inflict on 30 to 50 kids is indeed worse than a racist cartoon that is only looked at because people like me aren't smart enough to read the articles!

In short...i blame you ethan. I blame you for all the ills of the US and A.

and booba...how do you take your coffee?

Black

That sounds terrible. Every time you drink black coffee two kittens are killed in a kitten fighting ring.

I hope you're happy.

I know that the cartoon seems to have it's racial conotations. I understand that people are going to be upset and the guy is an absolute fool who wrote it. I am pretty sure his ass is going to get fired here directly. However, I must state how I cannot stand the Rev. Al Sharpton opening his dumbass mouth yet again.
The Huffington Post's version has 2000 comments. Al Sharpton says, "The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."
No **** Sherlock. It is the same damn thing over and over. If the African-American community would like to put some pressure on situations like this, they should really think about finding new representation. His arguments are getting old and it is time for a new face. I wonder how many of them actually listen anymore?

i don't even know if sharpton has a leg to stand on. His arguement become so far out there that i can't even listen to him talk. He loves passing all blame off of his own community (which has plenty of blame to go around) and instead slings the blame at anyone that doesn't match his skin tone.

Maybe instead of calling all the whites of the world out he should call out some blacks. What is the stat? 70% of blacks have or will go to jail in their life???? 70%!!!!!

Pot-Kettle-Black

Hey carter, did you go to a nice school? Have your mother and father make you dinner every night? Maybe your dad coached your little league team in the burbs?

Now try growing up with a 15 year old mother who has aids.

Things aren't even close to being equal in today's society. We haven't figured out how to make them equal. Currently things are stuck in a ****ing up cycle. Any idea's?

Yeah, Sharpton has a screw loose. I hate you.

Check, check and check.

At this point what is the fix though? If we don't change anything this activity will continue and it will flat out ruin the city of Milwaukee. IMO, we have neglected this issue for long enough. Something needs to change and i vote for sterylization and or a quicker death penalty for the lifetime criminals that absolutely drain our economy...(and there are plenty of them)

How about a social / economic fix? I mean I'm all for kicking someone when they are down... but how do you know when enough is enough?

carter wrote:Check, check and check.

At this point what is the fix though? If we don't change anything this activity will continue and it will flat out ruin the city of Milwaukee. IMO, we have neglected this issue for long enough. Something needs to change and i vote for sterylization and or a quicker death penalty for the lifetime criminals that absolutely drain our economy...(and there are plenty of them)

While I am a supporter of the death penalty, one problem is, with some people, are they a product of a system or are they like how they are on an individual basis? Statistically African Americans make up the majority of the jailed population, but many of them are there due to societal breakdowns. I'm not saying all, but I think one would have a hard time arguing that it is not a major factor. Do you just kill the ones that are there, or sterilize them? I think the fix needs to be in the education system and the employment market, when there is equality with both. Unfortunately, being a pessimist and a cynic, I do not see this happening anytime soon in this country.

I just typed out a long response to this, then deleted it, because I got too worked up. Booba, you're right on. You don't have to be pessimistic or cynic to see that change will not happen anytime soon, though. There are so many ignorant people out there that choose not to use their brains (I won't mention any names, Todd), and cling to a ridiculous idea that systemic racism is not a huge problem in our society. To all of those people: Please, keep listening to Bill O'Reilly and your preacher, and keep believing that the christian white man is so oppressed and victimized by the angry feminists, minorities, and atheists. Great idea, let's just drive this country right into the ground.

Way to not mention any names, Ethan

dammit, why are you on my side now

ethan wrote:I just typed out a long response to this, then deleted it, because I got too worked up. Booba, you're right on. You don't have to be pessimistic or cynic to see that change will not happen anytime soon, though. There are so many ignorant people out there that choose not to use their brains (I won't mention any names, Todd), and cling to a ridiculous idea that systemic racism is not a huge problem in our society. To all of those people: Please, keep listening to Bill O'Reilly and your preacher, and keep believing that the christian white man is so oppressed and victimized by the angry feminists, minorities, and atheists. Great idea, let's just drive this country right into the ground.

we are in 100% agreement that it is due to the society they live in and has nothing to do with the actual color of their skin. I would further the point in adding that some blacks receive harsher punishment and treatment from the police and court systems. There are quite a few things working against them here, but number one has to be the enviornment in which they are born (as schultz said, 15 year old parents, no dad...and so on).

My point is, something drastic needs to be done on a governement level or they will keep being a drain on the tax dollars i bust my ass to pay every year. Every year I drop near 5K in straight property tax. Just knowing that some if not most, of that money is going to some fat broad so that she can half pay attention to 15 kids she can't even remember the names of...pisses me off.

I'm sick of this city being such a drain. I do not blame the schools as much as most might, afterall, they are only there a third of the day for half of the year. How much can they really get done?