Defenders of Post Cartoon Prove That Eric Holder Was Right

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

So now, it seems the defenders of the New York Post’s despicable chimpanzee cartoon have veered way off the path of common sense and context to find a scapegoat.

They did some reaching and came up with … Eric Holder.

The nation’s new attorney general recently shook the realm of right-wing punditry and denial-ridden citizens by saying, during a Black History Month speech to Justice Department employees, that Americans needed to have more honest dialogue with each other regarding race and to understand the history of black folks in the United States.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder said.

Holder should have known better.

He should have known that calling Americans cowards on the unfinished business of racial equality and on the frank discussion of racial matters, especially when so many of them voted for President Barack Obama and literally believe this county is the “home of the brave,” would set off a lot of folks.

For many people, historical truth is no match for patriotic hype.

But now, some pundits are using Holder’s bluntness to defend what amounted to a racial slur splashed on the New York Post’s editorial page. Cartoonist Sean Delonas recently drew a cartoon of two police officers who had filled a chimpanzee full of bullets – with a caption saying that “They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

The Post initially issued a half-hearted apology, and defended the chimpanzee as symbolic of Congress, not Obama. The Post’s owner, News Corp magnate Rupert Murdoch, today issued a stronger apology.

But scores of black people, many of whom remember a time when some whites thought they had monkey tails and how even today, know that police use slurs such as “porch monkeys,” and “gorillas in the midst,” to denigrate them, aren’t buying the Post’s explanation.

And, for that matter, neither are a lot of whites.

So the Post has been inundated with complaints and picketers. The NAACP has demanded the firings of the editor and Delonas, and the Rev. Al Sharpton is calling for a boycott.

And the commotion over that, say the cartoon’s defenders, is precisely why the country will never be able to speak frankly about race. If white folks say the wrong thing, some pundits argue, they will be labeled as racists. The way they see it, if white folks are cowards, it’s only because black folks are bad sports.

What hooey.

Defenders of Post Cartoon Prove That Eric Holder Was Right....

NAACP wants NY Post editor and cartoonist fired

By VERENA DOBNIK

NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the NAACP on Saturday urged readers to boycott the New York Post, calling a cartoon that the newspaper published an invitation to assassinate President Barack Obama.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called on the tabloid to remove editor-in-chief Col Allan, as well as longtime cartoonist Sean Delonas.

Earlier this week, the newspaper apologized to anyone who might have been offended by the image printed Wednesday, which some say likens Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police in Connecticut.

Jealous said the cartoon was "an invitation to assassination."

NAACP wants NY Post editor and cartoonist fired....

After 200 Protest Over Cartoon, NY Post Apologizes - to Some

By: Karen Matthews

NEW YORK - After two days of protests, the New York Post apologized Thursday for a cartoon that some have interpreted as comparing President Barack Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police. But the newspaper also said its longtime antagonists exploited the image for revenge.

The qualified apology didn't mollify at least some of the cartoon's critics, who said they might continue protesting Friday.

The newspaper posted an editorial on its Web site Thursday evening saying the cartoon was meant to mock the federal economic stimulus bill, but "to those who were offended by the image, we apologize."

The piece was posted hours after 200 picketers chanting "Boycott the Post! Shut it down!" marched in front of the paper's office, saying the cartoon echoed racist stereotypes of blacks as monkeys.

The editorial said that "most certainly was not its intent," adding that some media and public figures who have long-standing differences with the paper saw the cartoon "as an opportunity for payback."

Calling them "opportunists," the editorial said: "To them, no apology is due."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who helped lead the outcry over the cartoon, criticized what he called the paper's "conditional statement" of regret.

After 200 Protest Over Cartoon, NY Post Apologizes - to Some....

NY Post Blasted by Angry Readers, Public After Chimp Cartoon

By: Jackie Jones and Glenn Minnis

During the presidential campaign, The New Yorker magazine caused a stir with a satirical cover that portrayed then-candidate Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as militant terrorists.

It was, the magazine said, an attempt to poke fun at wild and wildly inaccurate rumors swirling about the Obamas’ political and religious leanings. Instead, the magazine took a great deal of heat for missing the mark.

Now the New York Post finds itself in a similar mess.

A cartoon in Wednesday's Post by Sean Delonas shows two police officers standing over the body of a bullet-riddled chimp. One of the officers says the other, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton called the cartoon "troubling at best, given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."

The Post, Sharpton said, should clarify the point it was trying to make with the cartoon, which was playing off Monday's rampage by a pet chimpanzee in Stamford, Connecticut that left a woman severely mauled. Police ended up killing the chimp.

The cartoon set off a furious response against the Post. Phones at its offices rang all day with furious callers. Protesters picketed the newspaper's headquarters in Manhattan, demanding an apology and a boycott and chanting "shut the Post down."

The newspaper’s editor, Col Allen, defended the cartoon Wednesday, suggesting Sharpton was creating a controversy where none existed.

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

NY Post Blasted by Angry Readers, Public After Chimp Cartoon....

NY Post cartoon seems to link Obama to dead chimp

By KAREN MATTHEWS

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Post is standing behind a cartoon that some have interpreted as comparing President Barack Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police.

The cartoon in Wednesday's Post by Sean Delonas shows two police officers standing over the body of a bullet-riddled chimp. One of the officers says the other, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton called the cartoon "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys."

NY Post cartoon seems to link Obama to dead chimp....