Last week, Chip Bok’s cartoon poking fun at Republicans dealing with how to approach the Judge Sonia Sotomayor nomination to the Supreme Court, created a stir in segments of the Latino community by depicting the Puerto Rican judge as a pinata. Here is around up of some of the national press the cartoon has raised.
The Associated Press writes what the controversy is all about.
Blogger, “jjstraka” over on The Daily Kos writes, “How blatantly racist can something be? Why not have Obama carrying a watermelon under his arm while your at it? Or have the judge eating a taco?”
Hispanic Business reports Chip’s response to the flap.
Editor Bruce Tomaso of the Dallas Morning news mistakenly described the cartoon as depicting Sotomayor as hanging from a tree in the cartoon, which to some readers conjured up imagery of a lynching. He has since tried to set the record straight.
Chip appears on CNN to defend his cartoon (see video below)
I think people can over-react to comics. It’s up to the viewer to take it very seriously or to just look at it as an opinion and joke. ANYTHING can be offensive – so who’s to say when it crosses the line?
Sometimes I think a lot of these organizations just go out of their way to find something to complain about so they can get the organization’s name in the media. If you cornered any one of the people in these groups and asked them about it, honestly, do you really think they are losing sleep over something so silly? I doubt it.
Chip clearly FAVORS Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation. The cartoon criticizes the Republicans’ view of the would-be justice as as a piñata. It doesn’t advocate that she should be treated as such.
Either these groups are willfully spoiling for a fight or they don’t know how to read editorial cartoons. Probably the latter, I would imagine.
This goes to my oft-stated point (about to be restated here, so turn away if you’re tired of me saying this) that the metaphor genre is dead. Most readers simply don’t understand comics rendered using metaphors and are more used to the comic strip narrative style used by younger modern cartoonists.
Look for more of these misunderstandings in the future.
If I had drawn this, I would have made her look like a paper pinata, rather than looking like a real person being hanged, and I bet no one would have complained.
I think the pinata distracts from the elephants. Elephants are all the rage in ed cartoons these days. Those who fail to see that and include them in their work are unoriginal hacks.
“”Chip clearly FAVORS Judge Sotomayorâ??s confirmation.””
i don’t think the cartoon shows that bok favors her confirmation. he’s just illustrating the tough spot the republicans are in if they start bashing her. let he who is without latino constituents swing the first stick.
“”I would have made her look like a paper pinata… and I bet no one would have complained.””
yeah, i don’t think i heard a peep about clay bennett’s version:
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/jun/04/pinata/?editorialcartoons
i would also like to apologize if i offended anyone with the words “cartoon,” “bashing,” “latino,” “swing,” “stick,” or “peep.”
@ Bill,
Actually I was offended by your use of that word “the”. We all know that word was created by racist Western European males in order to dominate society as witnessed by its tyrannical role in being that solitary definite article in that English language. Definitely a metaphor for a “White, Male and Protestant” only nation.
Culturally senstive and intelligent persons never say ‘the’!!
A politically neutral phrase, like “The ‘t’ Word” should always be used, no excuses!
Oops.