Mike Rhode, over at the ComicsDC blog noticed an article in the Washington Post about a cartoon by William Woodward Jr. that recently re-ran (the cartoon was originally published in 2002 and has been printed once before) in the St. Mary Today depicting what many are calling racist because it allegedly depicts three black men robbing a bank.
The editor defends the cartoon saying,
The issue of cartoons is real simple: they are a further expression of free speech and the First Amendment protects the right of this newspaper to issue the most outrageous cartoons we can conjure up.
Readers who donâ??t like them should simply not look at them or go read some boring and politically correct rag that wonâ??t challenge itâ??s readers to think about the problems we face.
Armed robbers are a big problem to this area and the Banana Republics of DC and PG County are far too lenient on criminals and now many of them are slipping down to this region to rob and pillage. The principal victims of black criminals are black families. Those black families who have fled PG County, just like white families did 25 years ago, are now the chief victims of black criminals in Waldorf as burglaries, car jackings and robberies occur each day.
Is this editor an 8 year-old? I’ve seen better 1st amendment arguments from the Dixie Chicks.
The cartoon is weak and inoffensive. If you want to see racist caricatures look at how Condi is depicted.
Since blacks clearly commit a very disproportionate number of armed robberies what is the problem here? I think it is outrageous for blacks to expect their criminal behavior to continue to be white washed in the liberal media. It is time the truth about black criminality be exposed and this liberal propaganda of downplaying black predatory violence be done away with. I just read that half of all black males in D.C. between the ages of 16 and 25 are either in jail, on parole or probation. Any white person who does not hold a biased opinion of blacks due to their criminal behavior is either in denial or an idiot.
Heck I face this criticism every day with my cartoons. Since I write about police work it is just an every day part of the job. I had a reader complaint forwarded to me from an editor stating that the use of the phrase “What’s Happening?” was blatantly racist. I’ve written alot of other strips that could be construed as alot more racist than that one.