Is This Cartoon Offensive?
So our man Jones is presently over in Tenleytown guest-hosting the D.C. Politics Hour With Kojo and Jonetta (Kojo’s sick) and pretty quickly James and Ms. Rose-Barras directed their attention to an editorial cartoon (pictured) that ran in the Washington Examiner earlier this week.
The cartoon, by Nate Beeler, was a riff on a missive recently sent out by the D.C. Board of Ed that misspelled “success” as “sucess.” Beeler took the school board’s spelling problems and ran with it.
Jonetta referred to a massive outcry about the unfairness of the cartoon and went on to call it “racially insensitive” and possibly “racist,” because both figures are portrayed as black even though Fenty’s top education aide is white not black.
Mark Tapscott, the Examiner ‘s editorial page chief, was invited on the show and didn’t give an inch.
As far as this disinterested observer goes, I’m closer to Mr. Tapscott than Jonetta. The bad spelling on the letter is certainly within the bounds of satire, and there’s nothing to indicate that the aide was supposed to be Victor Reinoso. Plus, the aide’s not made out to be a uneducated buffoon—just the school board! And OK, the school board’s not full of blithering idiots, but when you don’t run spell check, you give an inch—and don’t be surprised when editorial cartoonists take a mile.
Anyone in the teeming millions care to rebut?
9 Responses to “Is This Cartoon Offensive?”
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January 19th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Wasn’t this suppose to reflect the fact that we hear so often that even college grads today can’t spell?
January 19th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Let me add to that that I do not think the comic was any attempt to insult anyone on the basis of race, color, creed or their unnatural origins like Loose Lips.
January 19th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Yes, it was offensive.
By the way, the Washington Post has errors/typos on occasion and they are not made out to be fools. To err is human.
And why does someone always have to talk about the status quo or guardians thereof as if anybody that has a difference of opinion is on the wrong page.
Let’s get it together. So much for One City.
January 19th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Wait. Reinoso is Hispanic.
January 19th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Duh. In City Desk’s defense, the federal government would call him “white, of Hispanic or Latino origin.” But City Desk is not as dumb as the federal government.
January 19th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
It would be funnier if Fenty’s voice bubble said, “Actually, it’s from the KORAN!”
By “funnier” I mean more offensive, I think.
January 19th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Oh, please. The School Board made an error. Making fun of that in an editorial cartoon is fair game. The cartoon, it seems to me, simply points out how messed up the education system in DC is. It might also hint that the problem is worse than Fenty thinks.
January 19th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
hispanic is not a race. its an ethnicity. its about your culture, not your genes.
there are black hispanics, white hispanics, asian hispanics.
the cartoon is not racist, but it IS meant to be insulting. of course it is! when does a political cartoon kiss ass?
our schools are in horrible shape. thats part of the point.
January 20th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
And this from the Chevy Chase email list. Sort of ironic, IMHO:
As a DCPS school teacher I would like to reflect that as listserve members
exchange information and debate about politics there is two things they all can
do. Parents direct discussion and COLLABORATION with their children’s teachers
and principals and consistent priorities and strategies from classroom to home
will do wonders on a daily basis. Continue to ask and insist that building
improvements happen, but please play an active role in learning.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChevyChaseCommunityListserv/message/35380