Yeah...what the fuck?

Saw that in the news ... no word to describe it really. Wow.

Not as direct, but still not the best choice of words when talking about Jindal ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpHRdf8xVxg

"He said he was unaware of the racial stereotype that black people like watermelons." "Bottom line is, we laugh at things and I didn't see this in the same light that she did..."

Then why did he think it was amusing and worth forwarding (if not for the racial implication)? Is there more to the email besides that pic? Watermelons aren't that funny on their own. Sounds to me he got caught being stupid and racist.

First the Post cartoon, now this. So, since sensitivity and IQ points are dropping faster than the stock market, when can we expect somebody to throw a burning cross on the White House lawn? Y'know, 'cause some yahoo figures Obama's religious and it'll help if he wants to pray at night?

Stay classy, America!

This kind of disgusting stereotyping and bigotry isn't new or uncommon. It just rarely gets any serious media attention, which makes all the difference.

Well this is blatant and you really can't come up with an excuse for it.

However, I disagree about the Post cartoon.

Yeah, I think the chimp cartoon was just typical reference of a current event, not malicious. Not very well thought-out, mind you, but not malicious.

This one, on the other hand, is blatantly obvious.

I'm pretty amazed at the amount of public racism in evidence since a black man was nominated for, then elected, president. This, the thing with the Curious George shirts, the Drunken Negro cookies, and probably a few more that made the news but escape me right now.

But I can't get my head around two things; the innocent act that always follows this bullshit, and the way no one says, for instance, "If you didn't know the association made between black people and watermelon, why'd you send the picture? You really expect us to believe you didn't realize it was a racist thing to do? How stupid do you think we are?" Is there nothing that can't be officially forgiven by a weak, insincere, half-assed public apology?

Me as well, in hindsight, considering who actually writes bills.

Not the President, but indeed, actual chimps.
It must be to balance out all the uncomfortable hugging, smiling, and crying.

Going back to the campaign, there have been several jokes about Obama's race and of course the out is always the same: "We had no idea this was racist" A few examples......









I know it would be nut picking to cite these as examples of Republican immaturity but then you have talk radio and then you have the punditry on TV and then you have the Republican Congressional leaders and a picture does start to emerge. And it's not flattering.

They did report that on CNN earlier today.

Somebody greenlit that shit. Somebody in the chain of command knew the cultural associations with monkeys and black people and should have pumped the brakes on it being published. Even without the racial part, the fact that violence was a part of the cartoon seemed to send a bad message. The cartoon was epic fail on every level.

I think being over sensitive on something like the Post cartoon is actually counter productive. The violence in the cartoon is just literally tied to a news item, if you remove that aspect then the cartoon could actually wander into weird racial connotations. However, as presented, the cartoon is entirely acceptable (if not really very funny).

The watermelon thing is in another category, but I'm afraid complaining about things like the chimp cartoon will make it easier for people to dismiss real cases of racism against the president.

People need to get a life if they are bitching about the Post cartoon.

This though? This is reprehensible and fucking awful.

I've heard of the chicken, Kool-Aid, ribs, and watermelon stereotypes (and even orange soda, I think). But didn't know about waffles personally. "Change you can taste" is amusing on its own, regardless of a food item.

People who have seen imagery like what was in the Post cartoon all their lives know it's racist.

What does that mean? That we're naive?

The Post cartoon was in no way depicting the president, saying that he should be killed, or that we need to "change presidents". At the end of the day "they'll need another chimp to write it" ... you really think that's some message looking ahead to the next election? Very unlikely.

The only unintended message (or maybe it was intended) was that it reminded me of the "infinite monkey theorem" in a weird way. But racism? You really have to be hyper sensitive to get to that.

I just mean that to the African Americans I know whom I talked to about it, as well as the throngs of people that demonstrated outside Murdoch's headquarters in New York, as well as Mark Thompson, one of the lefty radio shows I listen to (who is African American), the imagery was unmistakable. They didn't need to interpret, because they know what they're seeing when someone shows a monkey being shot. This isn't the first time they've seen it. It might not be the first thing that springs to your mind, but it was the first thing that sprang to theirs. And that is true of both those used to being mocked this way and those used to doing the mocking. Maybe those who haven't experienced it the way those two groups have (racists and victims of racism), but you can't downplay something that is so powerful from that perspective.

I think that's based on the pejorative form of the word "waffle", not a race thing (unless it's one I've never heard of, either), and it looks to me as though it's addressed to the entire Democratic party.

And the slogan is kinda catchy. You can really taste the hope!

I think the racial aspect of the Waffle ad is probably related to the Aunt Jemima image it evokes?

You want catchy? Try Obama-O's;
http://www.airbnb.com/obamaos


"A breakfast of change"

I love that jingle!

I didn't see the Post cartoon as inherently or intentionally racist (good point on the chain of command thing, dynamotv). Dumb and not funny, yes, but I doubt it even would have registered with me that it could be an Obama reference were it not for the outrage that ensued.

I mean, it's not like it's Resident Evil 5 bad.

Shit, I didn't even catch that. I think you're right on the money.

Well I live in the South and I'm over 30 and when I saw the cartoon red flags went up immediately. I remember black people constantly being referred to as monkeys and of course "porch monkeys". I mean it's kind of cool that some people might not be hip to monkeys=black people thing but there's plenty of people who get it and someone at the Post should have said "I dunno about that"

Another thing to consider is that while it's true Pelosi and Reid wrote the stimulus bill, Obama was the one that had them author it so in a very real sense, this was an Obama bill through and through.

The problem is that the cartoon is very clearly not depicting the president of the United States. Not visually nor in the text. And the "they'll need to look for another monkey" doesn't make sense either if that's supposed to represent him, unless we were really close to an election or he was being impeached.

Also, it's a stretch that a cartoonist is going to put a supposed representation of the president shot dead in the ground in such a graphic form.

I'm sorry, and I know for most of you this is not your intention, but the fact that monkeys evoke such associations so quickly says more about you than anything. Either you're too sensitive or you have bigger problems.

I don't think the Obama presidency means we should have an inane moratorium on monkey jokes, even if they are lame.

Every one I talked to regarding the chimp cartoon immediately assumed it was racist. Whether it was intended to be or not, ignorance to the fact that it could be viewed as such is no excuse. If anything, ignorance just reinforces the lack of sensitivity to the issue of racism.

I mean, the cartoon is about a stupid current event and a stupid Congress; it's not about Obama at all. The cartoonist is not trying to put racism in there openly or slyly. However, I can still see what people see, and I think it's just one of those things where the issues are "out there" in the culture and not really specifically tied to this image, which is theoretically okay but ridiculously, obviously racist to a lot of people. So it's not racist but it is, it's completely defensible but completely unprintable, I agree with Cap but I'd rather just lay off the political monkey humor for a while.

I think a lot of it has to deal with past history and intent as well. Calling someone a racist, especially a public person, can lead to a serious rebuking of that person even if they aren't what you think they are. I'm sure the cartoonist has had his credibility as a journalist/artist destroyed all because of this whole fake controversy.

I'm not ignorant of the imagery, but calling someone a racist when there is no evidence to suggest any racist past is a bit dangerous and irresponsible. Now, if this guy (which I've heard or seen no evidence to suggest this) has a racist tinge to him (prior controversial borderline racist cartoons or comments) then it would leave the door open to the possibility of it being a racist cartoon.

I guess I just think we should give people the benefit of the doubt before brandishing them as racists.

Now as for the imagery in this specific case of the CA mayor... I don't see any other intent other than racism. There's no excuse.

Holy fuck I just realized how racist my handle is.

I.... there are no words.

I don't remember writing "use of word monkey = racism", but reading doesn't seem to be your strong suit.

Maybe I shouldn't have specifically quoted you with that statement, but the truth is I really don't agree that "....ignorance to the fact that it could be viewed as such" is as damnable as labeling the cartoon racist. And for the same reasons others have stated it never would have struck me as being racist or even naïvely so. It was just an unfunny exploitative mishmash of topical events, and I don't get how one could find it racist were it not for the fact that it was a berserk primate that was put down by those cops and not some other news-worthy oddity.

That's why I joked about RE5 earlier, which is treading into firmly established stereotypes. This is not the thread for this topic, I know, but the email that started it surely falls into this category. That was clearly an inarguable example of racist "humor" and the fact that the asshole pleads ignorance to this fact does indeed beg for further scrutiny. The chimp cartoon isn't ignorant of a racial connotation; it simply doesn't apply.

STATEMENT OF NAACP PRESIDENT AND CEO BENJAMIN TODD JEALOUS ON PUBLIC APOLOGY FROM NEWS CORPORATION EXECUTIVE K. RUPERT MURDOCH

We welcome Rupert Murdoch’s statement that the New York Post will endeavor to be more sensitive to the communities it serves, but unfortunately his apology fails to answer how the Post will do so. Mr. Murdoch could resolve this unfortunate situation in 15 minutes by meeting to develop substantive measures to ensure that this type of incendiary incident does not happen again.

Mr. Murdoch’s apology comes only after almost a week of tens of thousands of expressions of outrage and disgust from people across the country. The offenders are still on staff and there are no measures being taken to increase diversity in its newsroom. The apology from Mr. Murdoch is sadly too little, too late and we call on Mr. Murdoch to take the steps needed to assure that the New York Post can practice more responsible journalism and truly be sensitive to its community, in the future.

The New York Post and Fox News have a history of racially insensitive reporting. With the support of the editor in chief, the cartoonist Sean Delonas has published numerous vile cartoons tinged with racism. Fox News was widely criticized during the elections for calling Michelle Obama “Obama’s baby mama” and terming the affectionate and common fist bump between then-candidate Obama and his wife, a “terrorist fist jab” at a time when death threats against the candidate were at an all time high for any presidential candidate.

The New York Post stands alone from most daily newspapers in refusing to report its diversity numbers to the American Society of Newspaper Editors. One has to wonder how many Hispanic or African American reporters and editors are working at the New York Post? Clearly, with more diversity in its newsrooms, it’s likely the paper would have been able to understand the deeply offensive nature of the cartoon. Our guess is that the numbers are abysmally low for a newspaper serving a city with a population as diverse as New York.

It is hard not to interpret the cartoon, which was juxtaposed to a photo of President Obama, as an encouraging sign to those who would assassinate our 44th president because of the color of his skin. The depiction of two police officers shooting down the primate is deeply troubling to communities who struggle daily with suspicious police killings. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) has also condemned the cartoon calling it “despicable, insensitive and easily interpreted as racist.” Good police officers all around the country should be dismayed by this slur on their character. African Americans have historically been compared to primates as a way to dehumanize the entire group. We were called monkeys while we were being brutally lynched and denied equal civil and human rights. In fact, a 2008 study published by the American Psychological Association found that an association between primates and African Americans still exists among many white Americans.

We hope that Mr. Murdoch will make good on his apology and agree to make the needed changes in the newsroom and its policies.

The Post cartoon may have not been intentionally racist, but someone with an ounce of common sense should have seen how it would have been taken that way.

I like how that statement actively looks for the firing of the cartoonist, and lumps his cartoon with events that have nothing to do with him. Great job NAACP.

Maybe the frequency and flagrancy are increasing...
From here.

Don't let Cap do your American history homework, kids.

Nice way of missing the point.

Cap, I don't know if you're pretending to be an idiot, or you're just dense.

You tell me.

I don't agree with that interpretation of the cartoon and I think it's a stretch to ascribe those intentions to it. Do I understand the imagery that people are complaining about? Yes. Do I think it applies here. Hell no, very simple.

It really is simple. Comparisons between black people and monkeys is a very common racist motif. This is common knowledge. Authorial intent in this situation is not common knowledge, in fact its pretty much unknowable.

I understand the two disparate news stories that inspired this cartoon, and I understand what I assume he meant by it. It still contains the toxic imagery that makes it easily indiscernible from racist propaganda depending on the viewer.

The simple fact is that the cartoon is not comparing the president to the monkey, if people bother to read it and try to understand the context of it.

I'm not against using simians in political cartoons to make a point. How many times has George W Bush been referred to as a Chimp in cartoons and in essays? Too many to count. You have to be careful with that same imagery in reference to an African American administration.

One could argue that Nancy Pelosi is the chimp but how many people outside the beltway know her role in all this? To most people, the Stimulus is Obama's baby through and through. Couple that with the white cops and you have at worst a dog whistle and at best a very racially naive cartoonist which might exactly be the case.

That picture of the "n166er" Air Force One is horrible as well. The GOP is truly melting down.

This.

While technically he didn't author the bill, it is Obama's bill. Do you think the average person would think of someone else in relationship to the creation of the bill?

I always wonder how folks from other countries see the "watermelon" and "fried chicken" stereotype. Divorced from U.S. social history, it must seem pretty inexplicable. I mean, who doesn't like watermelon and fried chicken? They must be scratching their heads.

That mayor is a fucking idiot. And what's worse, he thinks we're all morons who might believe his excuse.

My wife is from Asia and I had to show her a You Tube of how blacks were portrayed in the 30's and 40's to get her up to speed. She did come to the conclusion on her own that the watermelons must be a racial stereotype of some kind but didn't know why.

The thing I hate most is this "we had no idea this was racist" act they pull when they get caught. Without the racial quotient, what's the point?

Fuck ,even I've known about this since forever.

Well, if you knew, everyone of foreign ilk must have.