It took me about a day to put into words my feelings regarding the cartoon drawn in the New York Post in yesterday’s edition. There was one word that circulated in my mind as I took the cartoon in, that word was D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G.
The racial dynamics of the United States has been changing since the Civil Rights Movement, moving towards the spectrum of tolerance and respect. It still renders me numb to even have to question why the standards of tolerance and respect still need to be talked about, discussed, and brought to the table in today’s contemporary society. Racial divide, I believed, was having its gaps closed, relations mended, and waters bridged.
Yet, when I look in yesterday’s New York Post, and see a cartoon illustrating the premeditated MURDER of our United States President, depicted as a monkey, riddled with bullet holes, by uniformed police officers, my soul wants to vomit and wallow in what comes up. Rage wants to be wallowed in, broken-heartedness, shame, fear, and contempt all want their attention as well. And who can blame them? I thought, as an African American male in this the United States of America, at a time where I experienced the inauguration of the first African American President, I was under the impression that these sorts of antics would not be tolerated anymore, that these sorts of expressions would be dissuaded by responsible citizens that cherish life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But when I look at the Editor of the cartoon section of the New York Post, the cartoonist, and each and EVERY person responsible for managing that section who are paid to ensure that racism, hatred, and other damaging messages are not illustrated, I see they dropped the ball and ALLOWED such a message to come out.
How can an entity, American-borne, profess and proclaim a message of hatred, a message of intolerance, a message of murder with extreme prejudice, toward OUR President, OUR Commander-in-Chief? This same MAN was voted into the seat of the President of the United States by the largest margin of victory ever, voted in by EVERY color here represented in these United States. And if these cartoonists, and these editors, and those in charge of these cartoonists and editors, allow such a message to go forward as a representation of themselves as well as their entity, we the people; in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, protect the general welfare of ourselves and our posterity, owe it to ourselves to speak up, speak out, stand up, and ACT. Act in a way to sustain the chords of our delicate social community that have been under construction since our European brothers formed this country.
The racial dynamics of the United States has been changing since the Civil Rights Movement, moving towards the spectrum of tolerance and respect. It still renders me numb to even have to question why the standards of tolerance and respect still need to be talked about, discussed, and brought to the table in today’s contemporary society. Racial divide, I believed, was having its gaps closed, relations mended, and waters bridged.
Yet, when I look in yesterday’s New York Post, and see a cartoon illustrating the premeditated MURDER of our United States President, depicted as a monkey, riddled with bullet holes, by uniformed police officers, my soul wants to vomit and wallow in what comes up. Rage wants to be wallowed in, broken-heartedness, shame, fear, and contempt all want their attention as well. And who can blame them? I thought, as an African American male in this the United States of America, at a time where I experienced the inauguration of the first African American President, I was under the impression that these sorts of antics would not be tolerated anymore, that these sorts of expressions would be dissuaded by responsible citizens that cherish life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But when I look at the Editor of the cartoon section of the New York Post, the cartoonist, and each and EVERY person responsible for managing that section who are paid to ensure that racism, hatred, and other damaging messages are not illustrated, I see they dropped the ball and ALLOWED such a message to come out.
How can an entity, American-borne, profess and proclaim a message of hatred, a message of intolerance, a message of murder with extreme prejudice, toward OUR President, OUR Commander-in-Chief? This same MAN was voted into the seat of the President of the United States by the largest margin of victory ever, voted in by EVERY color here represented in these United States. And if these cartoonists, and these editors, and those in charge of these cartoonists and editors, allow such a message to go forward as a representation of themselves as well as their entity, we the people; in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, protect the general welfare of ourselves and our posterity, owe it to ourselves to speak up, speak out, stand up, and ACT. Act in a way to sustain the chords of our delicate social community that have been under construction since our European brothers formed this country.
I love and respect the United States and I love every walk of life that inhabits this, OUR United States. This is why cartoons such as the one posted in yesterday’s New York Post are unacceptable, wrong, and have no business in the forums of expression in our US of A.
3 comments:
you should send this to the courier
thank you reader. I will
Excellent...incisive...unifying...stirs both emotion and intellect. I agree, it should be posted in the Courier-News!
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