Obama as Chimp
The cartoon depicting Obama and his parents as chimps is not simply offensive--which would be okay. But this is deeply transgressive because of its clear racist history.
Presidents should expect no protection from being offended. They're open to judgment, criticism and even ridicule. There should be some areas that decent people hold to be off limits--and race would be the most prominent for me. Go after Obama's policies. Ridicule his failure to pass a budget or to engage immigration when he had the majority. Wonder what he was thinking when he escalated Afghanistan and diffidently entered into Libya without a plan to win or exit.
However, when the issue descends into race, we go beyond the pale. And yes, I'm aware of irony of using "pale," sometimes meaning light-skinned, but in this context referring to wooden stakes (as in impale) that were used to mark territories. In other words, racial stereotyping and caricaturing should be off limits. Our history of malicious racism is too strong for us to try to deny that showing a black as any kind of monkey is racist. It's not a joke or good humor gone astray. It is a racist stereotype with a long history.
Yet, despite Earl's excellent and persuasive analysis, some still hold that it isn't racist because there were lots of cartoons ridiculing George W Bush and even plenty of them depicting him as a monkey. This is where context and history are important. The Bush cartoons were offensive and were meant to be--and this is perhaps regrettable but within legitimate satiric limits. It demeans Bush but not his race. It demeans his intelligence (not fairly) and his articulateness (completely fairly).
However, the depiction of blacks as monkeys always carries a direct implication that they are not quite fully human and are closer to the apes and monkeys than whites. This is a very old trope whose painful history cannot be denied. It's time to drive a stake through it.
©2011 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
Many cartoons are in poor taste and often paint the subject in inappropriate situations. I do not think the monkeying of Obama is any more offensive than what was done to Bush or to other political figures. The content of blacks as monkeys is only seen in the minds of those with a background of racism and lack of education.
What are we going to do to the cartoonists? Issue death sentences as the Muslims do?