Editorial cartoon has Jacksonville readers upset
The fuss is about this editorial cartoon, drawn by Ed Gamble, the cartoonist for The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. It ran Friday:
 
Times-Union reader advocate Wayne Ezell, in a column posted with a Friday timestamp, wrote:
Expressions of outrage came quickly, including from the local president of the NAACP.
“Highly offensive and racist,” is how Charles Anderson described the cartoon.
It was wrong to suggest that the growing “Don’t snitch” phenomenon is limited to the African-American community and use of the terms “ho” and “nuttin’ ” were over the top, according to Anderson. Phyllis Hall said everything about the cartoon was offensive.
“Most of us are tired of the crime,” she said of Duval County’s murder rate, which is the highest in the state. “But I don’t think demeaning the culture of a race of people is necessary.”
…The cartoon came after police assertions that a “Don’t snitch” culture has impeded efforts to solve crimes in Jacksonville. A CBS 60 Minutes segment last Sunday focused on the growing problem, especially in inner-city neighborhoods, and how some rap artists have encouraged it.
Gamble conceded that the term “ho” is demeaning to women, but added, “I was making a point that rappers are demeaning to women.”
He is troubled by the influences of such things as offensive rap lyrics, drugs and no-snitch messages, Gamble said, and his commentary is meant to focus on those issues.
Read the column at the Times-Union web page.
Find Ed Gamble’s work online here.
This item via Romenesko.
August 21st, 2007 at 12:00 am
What a horrible way to make a point. That’s just improbably in poor taste.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:06 pm
and yet there’s no outrage about this racist cartoon:
http://www.angryasianman.com/2007/08/dirty-dirty-chinese.html
August 21st, 2007 at 9:47 pm
If the problem is black rappers pushing a ‘don’t snitch’ agenda, how’s Ed supposed to approach it without having black people in the toon? Do you draw a white record-company guy committing the crime and uttering the slur?
Any good editorial cartoon is going to stomp on toes, but I don’t see where this one makes an error similar to the Chinese-restaurant toon Martin links, which, to me, is more stupid than racist (the ‘Confucius say’ aside is suspect, though).
Would the NAACP be offended if Ed were black?
August 21st, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Thank god for white people, or this country would be devoid of racist humor that can be enjoyed by all without worries of PC. I’m with Jim that I don’t see anything particularly over-the-line with the first cartoon. Then again, I’m of the opinion that you shouldn’t discriminate based on race because if you get past someone’s skin color and actually get to know them, you’ll likely find many much more legitimate reasons to hate them.
August 23rd, 2007 at 7:39 am
Let’s just all agree that the only people you can make fun of and slur are middle-aged, balding white guys … WAIT… That’s me! OMG, I’m going into hiding.
August 23rd, 2007 at 7:48 am
If “minorities” want to be equal not separate, then being able to put up with criticism, puns, satire and related aspects of the written (and drawn) word are part of the price. People of all colors do bad things, you can’t reason it away no matter how hard you want to. I think Ed’s cartoon is powerful and the black community should see it that way. There are forces in the black community trying to change the way they are perceived and treated, unfortunately, there are higher profile minority sections working just as hard to continue their “victims by reason of victimhood” style of life. And if non-blacks can voice as well as accept criticism, that’s a small part of the problem solved.
I’m the first person in my family (white, Russian, western European and WAAAAY back, Persian, read Iraqi-Georgian)to be born in the melting pot of a country (AND I’m 52. WE got to the party late (after Hitler tried killing us off). Anything that I want to do, I will, and nobody is gonna stop me. But I;’m not blaming them all for whatever ails me, either.
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:25 pm
as a “minority” i would be able to handle it if i saw people like me in the mainstream media and entertainment with positive role models and complex characters beyond the shy asexual math nerd. then there would be some balance to the satire and criticism.
someone once told me she doesn’t look to the media for role models. i responded that’s because they’ve always been there for you. it’s hard when all you see is your people being dehumanized and that leads to stereotypes and violence. it eats away at my psyche and self esteem. i grew wanting to be white and hated who i was. i still do to a certain extent.
yes you can make commentaries about pop culture and race but you have to more sophisticated and tactful about it.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:26 pm
OK, let me put this another way. My dad died when I was six. My mom had to work to support me and my two older sisters. We were lower on the socioeconomic scale because of her being a single parent (this was the early 60s). She was a nurse, back when nursing wasn’t THAT well-paid (still aren’t). To help out, she had friends from her hospital, who were black, take care of me. I often rode the bus in my hometown of Peoria, to the then segregated by economics black side of town ( a little white boy in the company of a black woman drew lots of looks) and spent quite a bit of time with my black babysitters ( they were NOT nannies). I grew up with a very big appreciation for all people, of color or not. We were also very new to the country, as I said before, I was the first U.S. born in my family, so we had no history of institutional discrimination to understand. I had role models of ALL colors, black and white. I guess what I am saying is that things like that cartoon, the Vick situation, etc. etc. etc. need to be understood, discussed, looked at and used positively to come to an understanding about what plagues ALL of us, not just one group or the other. There are problems in white culture just as assuredly as there are problems in black culture. To ignore commentary because the commentator was white doesn’t help. I think the cartoonist was not drawing to vilify ALL blacks, he was drawing to vilify a SITUATION. It’s satire. Period