Chimpanzee Cartoon (Atlanta, White: house, wedding, live in)

[Reelist in Atlanta]

I have heard from people who feel as though the Chimpanzee in the cartoon is a referece to Mr. Obama. As such this reference would dredge up unpleasant images offensive to blacks. Worse, some feel as though this would incite violence against the President because the Chimp was shot.

For me it seems a bit of a stretch to assume that the Chimpanzee is supposed to be Barrack Obama. I believe the cartoon would have been just as relevant no matter who was President. I would be happy to explain this.

I would be interested to know what others think.

[JPD]

The chimp cartoon is old news. Here's the latest racist episode:

White House Watermelon Email From California Mayor Dean Grose Inspires Outrage

However you feel about the chimp cartoon, there is clearly a lot of blatant racism going around these days.

[Psykomonkee]

Originally Posted by JPD

The chimp cartoon is old news. Here's the latest racist episode:

White House Watermelon Email From California Mayor Dean Grose Inspires Outrage

However you feel about the chimp cartoon, there is clearly a lot of blatant racism going around these days.

I don't know. I found the Chimp cartoon to be dangerously racist, BUT the watermelon lawn... I'm sorry. That tickled me.

[gerrynyc]

I live in NYC,
people are outrage by this cartoon because this cartoonist has a habit of drawing extremely controversial cartoons. When there's a police shooting that appears to be excessive such as Sean Bell (unarmed black man) who got killed by 50 bullets on the day of his wedding, Don Imus with his insensitive comments, etc...that cartoonist has continuously used racial innuendo particularly toward black people. This cartoon you are referring to is not an innocent concidence...it was meant to get a reaction out of people. The stimulus package though lead by Pelosi IS presided by Obama, a black man, there IS a correlation... This cartoonist is NOT that innocent.

Racist groups throughout history have associated black people with monkeys...honestly, it hurts... It hurts alot when I look back at OUR history. We are trying to move forward by learning from the past. Jews, mexicans, blacks, africans, haitians...are at times victims of these insensitive cartoonists. They infuse their own ignorance in their drawings... Then claim innocence.

I have not met ANY minorities here in NYC who is not saddened by this cartoon. Unless one has been part of the minority or even victims of racism, it would be difficult to understand the uproaor against such blatant ignorance.

I am a black woman from Montreal Canada, when I was 16 years old, I was walking in a park with my 4 cousins...We were minding our business. A group of skinheads of approximately 20 started calling us N#@$!S and monkeys, they started to chase us with bats, We ran for our lives. We were rescued by my aunt and her white neighbor, one of us was severely injured.
I bring this personal story to say that, words are powerful, they demand an emotion out of someone, images sometimes do not even need words in order for one to get the intended idea. Put words and images together an one gets it.

You see, after experiencing what i did with the skinheads, I did not grow up a black extremist, instead i remembered that my aunts white neighbor was in tears after the incident. These words uttered by the skinheads hurt her so much... Even till this day, she cannot get herself to talk about that horrific moment in time. There are more good people then bad ones in this world, but when someone is insensitive and unapologetic, they must be stopped or else it gets worst. Ask yourself: How would I feel if someone indirectly but intentionally targeted my race, gender, religion. nationality in such a way, then has the audacity to say...Oh well i did not mean it that way! Makes no sense!

Respectfully.

Originally Posted by Reelist in Atlanta

I have heard from people who feel as though the Chimpanzee in the cartoon is a referece to Mr. Obama. As such this reference would dredge up unpleasant images offensive to blacks. Worse, some feel as though this would incite violence against the President because the Chimp was shot.

For me it seems a bit of a stretch to assume that the Chimpanzee is supposed to be Barrack Obama. I believe the cartoon would have been just as relevant no matter who was President. I would be happy to explain this.

I would be interested to know what others think.

[atlantagreg30127]

This has been discussed in the politics room (where something like this belongs anyway), and it's not an Atlanta topic.