Is this cartoon racist?

A really tasteless cartoon based on an extremely disturbing and sad event. No, I wouldn't call it racist. They didn't put that much thought into it.

It's capitalism.

Just like the hits on this thread, it will sell and the online NY Post will get tons of hits.

I guess the slave trade was capitalism, too.

Congress wrote the bill didn't they? BO just threw a hissy fit for it.

Any other bright questions?

"I guess the slave trade was capitalism, too."

And perfectly legal at the time too. Thank God the Republican Party came along and changed that.

Carbon Credits, now *those* are a scam.

Are you one of those people who believe that the Civil War was fought to free the slaves?

In a lot of ways, that war is much like today. It was a scary economic change for rich southerners. The moral issues of slavery were secondary and only used to sell it to the 600,000 young men who lost their lives.

Sound familiar?

It's always about the economy, stupid. Always.

Finally proof that the NY Post is full of nothing but racist pigs

Wow talk about one of the biggest stretches ever.

1) Obama didn't write the stimulus...Congress did lead by two white people.

2) they were most likely playing off of the old saying about lock a bunch of monkeys in a room with typewriters and sooner or later they could pound out Shakespear.

or

3) they are trying to say the stimulus was so bad, so ungodly filled with crap it was written by a chimp

I swear to God I cannot see how you drag racism out of this one...is Sharpton that desperate for attention now that he doesnt matter anymore with Obama in office?

No it isn't racist, it's funny. We really aren't going to get anywhere if every time a cartoonist draws a provocative cartoon, some guilt-ridden person raises his or her hand and asks "Is this racist?" Come on, take it for what it is and look at the picture. Columnists should stop trying to be the President's pets and just write about something worth reading.

That cartoon is racist, but let us examine why.

If this was two years ago, we'd say that George W is a monkey and nobody would think of it as racist. But now, we all connect the dots, because its a monkey, it must be referring to Obama (the person behind the stimulus bill), to further connect the link we say, Obama is black and we use the term "monkey" to refer to blacks...

Who finds this offensive? The people that make the connection between a monkey and a black man, unfortunately thats most of America, incuding blacks. BTW Al Sharpton, you need to saw your jaw off your face... or shut up

That cartoon is racist, but let us examine why.

If this was two years ago, we'd say that George W is a monkey and nobody would think of it as racist. But now, we all connect the dots, because its a monkey, it must be referring to Obama (the person behind the stimulus bill), to further connect the link we say, Obama is black and we use the term "monkey" to refer to blacks...

Who finds this offensive? The people that make the connection between a monkey and a black man, unfortunately thats most of America, incuding blacks. BTW Al Sharpton, you need to saw your jaw off your face... or shut up

I'm sick of this. The only way that is racist is if Darwin's "Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life" is recognized as a racist publication.

Instead, the idea of Darwinism is popularly considered to be fact, and no negative racial connotation is attached to it.

You cannot have it both ways: Either recognize that Darwin's vision was racist, and that monkeys are related to people, or there is a creator who made people (of every color) unique from animals and this is NOT a racist cartoon.

If we're not related to monkeys, and people with more visible melanin in their skin simply look different than people with less melanin, then this cartoon merely suggests that you'd have to be less smart than a person to write a bill this bad.

Otherwise, we're related to monkeys, and black people are less evolutionarily developed than whites and THIS IS RACIST!

There's a bug in the login that makes it look like tammy posted this, but it's actually being posted by Tom, who has (as far as he knows) never even met Tammy, and certainly is not a racist.

Why is it that Racists ALWAYS try to PRETEND they are not racists when doing racist thing? Like the guy who wanted to sell drunken negro cookies kept pretending all the way it was a new art form. But the point is it doesn't matter. 99% of people with a brain will know it was racist. And already there are idiots showing up in these comments to claim it's not racist. 1st off all, why link an angry chimp to the stimulus bill? Why imply we need someone else to write it since the chimp is dead? Obama signed that bill, so they are implying Obama. Obama is also considered black, and blacks are are typically made fun of when they are compared to monkeys/chimps etc. Sure we did it to Bush because he's as dumb as a chimp.. BUT when you do it to a black person it had that special negative message which is a no no. Unless you just want people thinking you're racist.

Yet people still show up to pretend it's just a coincidence, and say it's not meant to be a dig at Obama or that he's black. But the fact that it comes up over and over, shows that the New York Post cartoonist got exactly what they wanted. For everyone to talk about Obama, the stimulus bill, that he's black and chimps. Anyone denying all of this is an idiot.

What more can I say! This is pure racism at it's worst! And...This is coming from a Caucasian and not necessarily a big BO fan.
It is time for writers like this one to grow up and get in sync with the rest of the people of this good country!

Tammy

I did not write "Why is this racist?"
I wrote "Shameful, Insensitive and Totally Ignorant".

Tammy

I meant that the cartoonist needs to evolve to a more intelligent level!

Tammy

First, let me apologize to chimpanzees everywhere for the unseemly comparison to a liberal democrat. Chimpanzees are very intelligent primates and deserve better. As for the "racism" tripe, any intelligent reader understands that legislation is drafted by Congress (specifically the House first, then the Senate) and NOT by the President. Therefore, the comparison of a Chimp to the author of the stimulus plan would attach more to Reid or Pelosi than to Obama. Of course, Democrats in general and Obama-slobberers in particular lack the intelligence to know how the government operates, which is why "Bush" is accused of the economic chaos rather than the DEMOCRATICALLY CONTROLLED CONGRESS THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE SINCE 2006.
One final note: Shave the hair off of a Chimp and you see white skin.

http://barackobama.iblogger.org/ is updating on this story as we speak go check it out.

I think my President kind of looks like a chimp

As a person from India, I was offended a couple of years ago when the Senate candidate from Virginia called an Indian-American "Macaca," a type of monkey, and if I was an african-american I would probably be offended over this. What I find amazing, however, is a post above saying that it can't refer to Obama because he didn't write the stimulus. Everywhere you look in the media people refer to this as Obama's stimulus plan so that line of thinking is disingenious at best. It's okay not to like the stimulus plan but to advocate the shooting of the person who wrote it (or is thought to have written it) shows how deep the hatred of Obama runs in extreme parts of the conservative party.

Well from ONE Tammy to Another, It looks like many of us here are Tammy! LOL. I didn't really do anything but write a comment and it calls me Tammy5750. Very strange site.

and I'm obviously not Tammy

Thank you for saying what we already know: the media influences public opinion and ignores the facts, thereby making assumptions like the false racism of this cartoon so much easier to spread among the populace.

And it even shows me the email address is something like tmm57530@yahoo.com. Of course I changed something so no one else could read it. Terrible security here. What a lame site! Sorry to who ever Tammy is..

I know I already said it but it bears repeating: The logical contortions of some people on this post are amazing. Before today it was always Obama's stimulus plan. Now that this cartoon has come out it no longer is. Tomorrow, after this controversy has died down (hopefully) I'm sure it will be Obama's plan again. You see, it can't be Obama's plan today because then we would lose this argument that the monkey doesn't represent one black person but two white people. So today, just for today, it is Pelosi and Reid's stimulus. We will be at war with Eurasia again tomorrow.

I know I already said it but it bears repeating: The logical contortions of some people on this post are amazing. Before today it was always Obama's stimulus plan. Now that this cartoon has come out it no longer is. Tomorrow, after this controversy has died down (hopefully) I'm sure it will be Obama's plan again. You see, it can't be Obama's plan today because then we would lose this argument that the monkey doesn't represent one black person but two white people. So today, just for today, it is Pelosi and Reid's stimulus. We will be at war with Eurasia again tomorrow.

war were capitalism then you can bet your bippy good ole George's Iraq war also was and is capitalism. I take this cartoon to be showing a person as ignorant, not necessarily saying something about being black. Either way it is an insult and was intended to be so. The stimulus plan will be Obama's if it fails and if it is a success, the Republicans will be taking ownership of it or never recognizing it for the success it is.

Obama doesn't have time to spend on poop like this and I doubt if he does - it is only the little minds that pay attention to stuff like this and I have to ask myself why I am even addressing the issue now. The only reason I can think of is to tell people that they are STUPID to even spend one second on this type of crud - lots of ways to spend your time better.

It's really simple. There are certain things we are taught not to do when trying not to be offensive. One is compare blacks to monkeys. We all know this. It doesn't matter if you think he looks like one. Or if the monkey is white skinned under the fur, or any of that. If you don't want to appear to be racist, then you don't make references to monkeys in close proximity to blacks. Looking at this from another angle. That cartoonist KNEW all of this. He wasn't born yesterday. Yet he drew the cartoon anyway. He didn't make any effort to avoid looking in the wrong. Let's put it this way. If the cartoonist really really wanted to avoid looking racist, for say pay of a million bucks, I'd bet he would have thrown out his cartoon. Or at least hid it in a drawer. No matter how much he or others act like they are innocent of this, he knew what he was doing. and so do others. It's so obvious.

when people go through contortions to prove something is racist. No wonder our society is still so polarized.

It's a stupid cartoon, people! Not even really that funny.

Are you gonna go one step further and correlate the drugs that were in the chimp's tea with BO's drug habit next?

Iraq is an economic venture. Any more brilliant observations?

All these comments prove that capitalism does work.

Ummmm.....I thought affirmative action is dead? So, they referred to Barry as a monkey who cares? They called Bush a monkey nobody cared. It's a level playing field now, and if you don't like it apply for a visa and hit the airways to somewhere else. We don't want your kind here! and yes I'm referring to those who chose to segregate, we are a body of one, americans. Those who see this as racism are closet racist.

Amen. Everyone thinks they're Al Sharpton.

By Roland S. Martin
CNN Contributor

Editor's note: A nationally syndicated columnist, Roland S. Martin is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith" and "Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America." Visit his Web site for more information.

Roland S. Martin says NY Post editors should have seen that the cartoon would be considered offensive.

(CNN) -- President Obama earned kudos from the media when he said he screwed up in nominating Tom Daschle as secretary of Health and Human Services despite his problem with paying taxes.

Too bad the leadership of the New York Post didn't follow the lead of the president in admitting that an editorial cartoon they ran today by Sean Delonas was offensive, careless and racist.

If you haven't seen the editorial in question, it shouldn't take you long to figure out that the subtle message was clear: comparing President Obama to a chimpanzee.

In the cartoon, a cop is holding a smoking gun and, with another officer, looking at a bullet-riddled body of a chimpanzee. The caption reads: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

In a statement to The Associated Press, Col Allan, the Post's editor-in-chief, said the cartoon was an obvious reference to the story of a chimp in Connecticut that viciously attacked a woman and was killed by police.

"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," he said, referencing a news release the civil rights activist sent out blasting the paper and demanding an apology.

Delonas, the cartoonist, said to CNN, "It's absolutely friggin ridiculous. Do you really think I'm saying Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon. The chimpanzee was a major story in the Post. Every paper in New York, except The New York Times, covered the chimpanzee story. It's just ridiculous. It's about the economic stimulus bill. If you're going to make that about anybody, it would be [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, which it's not."

To the editors who approved the cartoon, as well as the cartoonist, the piece was clearly all fun and laughs. But anyone with half a brain, especially someone knowing the history of African-Americans being called monkeys and gorillas, would have said, "We need to rethink this."

First, mixing the two stories is ridiculous. Yes, the chimpanzee incident and the passage of the stimulus bill have a lot of folks talking, but to put them in the same element just doesn't make sense.

Second, the cartoonist didn't hang a sign around the neck of the chimp, so he left it up to the reader to determine exactly who the cops were referring to.

We all know that the stimulus bill was the first priority of the new president, so when reading the caption, it was easy to infer that the cartoonist was implying the president of the United States.

You know, the black guy.

And that's where the problem comes in.

What could be seen as silly humor if President George W. Bush were in the White House has to be seen through the lens of America's racist past, as noted by the leaders of the New York Association of Black Journalists, who also are demanding an apology from the Post.

"How do you think the Jewish community would feel about the use of rats in any depiction of them? How do you think the Italian community would feel about being generalized with mobsters?" the organization said in a statement.

"Monkey slurs against Africans and African-Americans go back to the days of early colonialism, when Anglo Saxon, Spanish and Portuguese conquerors used these types of drawings and descriptions to dehumanize black people so that their mistreatment and enslavement would not be viewed as wrong or sinful. The practice also took on more sinister roles later in history including during the slave trade here in the U.S. and in Hitler's Nazi Germany."

Ignorant leaders of the New York Post and others may think everything is fair game, and certainly criticizing the president of the United States is just fine. Yet while everyone seems to be caught up in the delusion of a post-racial America, we cannot forget the reality of the racial America, where African-Americans were treated and portrayed as inferior and less than others.

And just as some members of the media brotherhood were taken to task for their obvious sexism during the Democratic primaries because of comments about then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, we had to be sensitive to the historical treatment of women.

Oh yes, the Post will have its defenders, accusing African-Americans and others of being hypersensitive. The Post has already shown its hand by trying to make this all about Sharpton, since they know he's the black bogeyman to white America. But they should understand that my e-mail box and Facebook page are filled with comments from folks of different backgrounds stunned by the callousness of the Post.

I guess it's fitting the cartoon ran today, because the best statement to sum up the issue can be taken from a black history month speech given today by our first black attorney general, Eric Holder.

"Even as we fight a war against terrorism, deal with the reality of electing an African-American as our president for the first time and deal with the other significant issues of the day, the need to confront our racial past -- and our racial present, and to understand the history of African people in this country -- endures," he said.

"One cannot truly understand America without understanding the historical experience of black people in this nation. Simply put, to get to the heart of this country, one must examine its racial soul."

are closet racist?" You can call me mistaken or overly sensitive but I'm not a closet racist. I just think, as an astute poster pointed out above, a person should realize the ramifications of comparing a black person to a monkey because there's a long and sordid history of that going back to the KKK. Now I'm not saying this cartoonist is anything like the KKK but he was either ignorant if he didn't see the connection or insensitive and at least borderline racist if he did. Go ahead and say the stimulus is wrong or dumb or unwise but by comparing an african-american to a monkey the cartoonist is only showing that he's wrong, dumb, and unwise. Racist? I would have to know him better.

Hyphenated-Americans need to drop the hype and become just Americans.

Their extreme rhetoric is becoming extremely boring. It's the same thing over and over and over.

You frigging righteous, anti-Salman Rushdie clones. The next thing you know there is going to be a fatwah on the cartoonist.

Bin Laden is winning, no doubt.

I rarely share this opinion as it is a bit controversial, but I honestly believe that all humans are infected by racism; it's simply a matter of to what degree.

In my opinion, racism is analogous to bacteria. Bacteria is present everywhere we go. Even when we are our cleanest it is still present, if only at a microscopic level. They key is knowing that bacterium exists, how to prevent it from harming us and how to lessen the chance of those less clean infecting us. With bacteria it's a matter of personal hygiene; with racism introspection.

That said, this cartoon is not only unfunny but is indeed teaming with bacteria.

You're completely right: There should be no more hyphenated Americans. No more African-Americans or Indian-Americans. And we should cancel black history month. And while we're at it: No more Italian-Americans or Irish-Americans either. And no more St. Patrick's Day parade and no more October-fest beer either. Get real. There's nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage. A person can be proud of being Italian in descent as well as being American in citizenship. It is possible to be proud of two things at once y'know.

Sure thing Ravijet.

Go ahead and proudly battle that two-front war. What choice are you going to make when you come face-to-face with the enemy and the enemy is you?

In case my last post was too deep. I'm an Irish-American, Flemish-American, & German-American second. I'm an American first.

1. Being called a Nazi doesn't bother me. Nor a Kraut.

2. A seven course Irish meal consisting of a six-pack of beer and a baked potato. I think that's funny.

3. Having A Flemish background, the jokes are immeasurable. Go for it. I'll laugh.

Those mean nothing, because I'm American.

What would you do? Are you implying I can't be trusted simply because I'm a hyphenated American. Sounds like racism to me if what you're saying is the only Americans we can trust are those who are pure, un-hyphenated Americans.

Eightsy

If the cartoon artist had used
an albino monkey there would be
no controversy. So, I guess the rule
is that our country cannot use the color
black while Obama is the President.
That's sad.

Sure thing Ravijet -- Ride that racism horse. I got my answer from you, thanks.

Wait, first you say there should be no more hyphenated Americans and then you describe yourself as a hyphenated American? I'm glad you don't mind German jokes or Irish jokes; I'm glad you have a thick skin, but that doesn't give you carte-blanche to make black jokes. Leave those for black people to make, okay?

Do I find this cartoon racist?
Yes, but I am less tolerant of racial comments than most.
But what intrigues me is that some of the same people that are villifying this cartoonist just recently were apoligizing for Obama's sexist "lipstick on a pig" comment. The excuses for both of these things mirror each other.
If you apoligize for one, yet villify for the other, you are being hypocritical.

Your English comprehension of my posts is a bit amusing. Here is why.

I said, and I'll repeat -- I'm all of those hyphenated-Americans, second, I'm an American, first. I simply prioritized that one is more important than the other.

What part of my post caused you to say what you just said -- suggesting I'm against hyphenated-Americans?

Whatever it is, it must be in your head because it's not in mine. Have a good time fighting with the hyphenated-American & the American in you.

I rest my case.

It is apparent by this little trivet of humor that the editor that approved this was not able to properly evaluate for publication because of the obscured view encountered by having 3/4 of the paper stuck up his posterior.....

Mr. Bob - Austin, Texas

Dear Sir,
You asked why I assumed you were against hyphenated Americans. I assumed so when you said this about them in your post:
"You frigging righteous, anti-Salman Rushdie clones. The next thing you know there is going to be a fatwah on the cartoonist."
Then, in your next post, you implied that I, as a hyphenated American, had a choice to make and even asked me what I would choose. After that you said that you yourself were a hyphenated American but that you chose America first (implying that others, perhaps me, don't chose America first).
Essentially I feel you're questioning my patriotism because I disagree with you that a person can be a good African-American as well as a good American. What our argument has to do with my patroitism is beyond me (recall you brought it up when you asked what I would do when the enemy was me). As far as I can tell, you would rather just call me un-American rather than have a reasoned discourse. I assume you're a fan of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly because they frequently resort to this tactic as well.

It must be your hyphenated-American side coming up with those assumptions. Ask your American side if it has any problem with what I said.

(smile)