Cartoon depicts President Obama as dishonest, ape-like
theGRIO REPORT - A recent cartoon by artist Ted Rall has created a firestorm after he posted it on the liberal political blog Daily Kos...
A recent cartoon by artist Ted Rall has created a firestorm after he posted it on the liberal political blog Daily Kos.
The comic strip depicts President Barack Obama with apelike features and contrasts statements he’s made in the past about the Affordable Care Act and Afghanistan with what Rall considers reality.
Daily Kos’ reaction was swift. The site’s administrator came down hard on the cartoonist: “Your depiction of Barack Obama as ape-like is intolerable. Being critical of Obama, even ferociously so, is not the problem. Through British and American history, blacks have been subject to racist depictions of themselves as monkeys and apes. No excuse is acceptable for replicating that history, no matter what your intent. If it happens again, your posting privileges will be suspended.”
Rall, who considers himself a left winger, fought back, calling out the website for not paying him for his submission.
“Anyone familiar with me and my work knows I’m not racist,” he said. “My criticisms of the president are unrelated to his race, and to say otherwise in the absence of evidence is disgusting.”
He added: “It should be noted that my editors at a variety of American newspapers, magazines and websites, almost all of whom are left of center politically, some of whom are black and many of whom voted for Obama, have never expressed the slightest concern about the way I draw the president.”
Unfortunately, this is far from the first time the president has been portrayed as a simian by this political opponents. Even his wife and children have not been spared from this kind of hateful racial rhetoric.
Take a look at the controversial cartoon below and let us know: Do you think it’s offensive?
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