President Obama, The Stimulus Package, and Racist Chimp Cartoon

Inspired by Kevin Canessa Jr. of Diversity Inc.

Among protests led by the Rev. Al Sharpton and The National Action Network outside their offices in Manhattan, The New York Post issued an apology to "those who were offended by the image" of a Wednesday cartoon likely depicting President Barack Obama as a Chimpanzee. The Post's leading competitor in New York, The Daily News, called the apology "half-hearted."

"It was a sorry excuse for an apology, but the New York Post finally caved in to outrage over a racially charged cartoon that some believed insulted President Obama--then went on the attack," the Daily News wrote.

The cartoon depicted two police officers who had shot dead a chimpanzee. One cop said to the other: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Post officials said the cartoon was meant to bring "humor" to an incident that took place in Connecticut just a few days ago, where a pet chimp was shot dead by police after the animal mauled and nearly killed a friend of its owner. But AL Sharpton and others say it was obvious the Post meant to convey a racially charged commentary by comparing Obama to the chimp, a comparison Blacks have had to deal with for decades in the United States.

"They made what could have been a noble gesture ignoble by trying to attack people at the same time they're trying to apologize to them," Al Sharpton told the Daily News. "It's not opportunistic to say 'I've been offended.' This makes it hard to take them seriously. They've done a number of cartoons on me over the years, and I've never marched on them. They just don't get it."

The cartoon's creator, Sean Delonas, who has been with the Post since at least 1998, is no stranger to this kind of controversy. He's sketched many others that have led to outrage. For the most part, he's remained mum on the current buzz, except for a brief phone interview he granted to CNN. He says he's puzzled by the nationwide outrage his piece has caused.

"Do you really think I'm saying Barack Obama should be shot? I didn't see that in the cartoon," Delonas said in the CNN interview. "It's about the economic stimulus bill."

Not so, says Roland S. Martin, a noted Black Author and CNN Contributor.

"Ignorant leaders of the New York Post and others may think everything is fair game, and certainly criticizing the President of the United State s is just fine," Martin wrote on his blog on CNNPolitics.com. "Yet while everyone seems to be caught up in the delusion of a Post-Racial America, we cannot forget the reality of the Racial America, where African Americans were treated and portrayed as inferior and less than others."

While it wasn't said directly, there were some protestors who said they feared the cartoon too closely represented an Obama Assassination. Peter Aviles was one of the protestors and he told MSNBC it's a fear in the Black community that Barack Obama could be a target for an assassination.

"Just the fact that they put a monkey with gunshot wounds in his chest, it gives the idea of an assassination," Aviles told MSNBC.

"When I read the cartoon and saw the images, it made me feel as if I was less than a person. I am one to pick and choose my battles because as an African-American man, unfortunately, I cannot fight every racist battle. I chose to contact the Post and voice my concerns. I am upset by the images that the Post chose to convey its political satire. I am upset by the manner in which they chose to present it."

Deborah Lee of B.E.T. said Obama's presidency should not give people a false impression that racism no longer exists in this country. "Everyone knows that the N.Y. Post is a racist newspaper, "Just because Mr. Obama became president, it does not mean racism in America is going to disappear. What we need to do as a people is put the N.Y. Post out of business. How do we do that? By boycotting their advertisers. We need to put our money where our mouths are."

Very strong thoughts and opinions from people within our own walk of life and in our communities. Mr. Sharpton and his supporters have taken up the fight in NYC. Many of the local radio stations have hosted peaceful marches in protest to the satirical cartoon. The Owner of the New York Post, Mr. Ruford Murdock, is not very pleased with all the negative publicity generated by this situation. He formally apologized at a news conference earlier this week. However, I believe more than a “I’m sorry” is necessary.

In this day and age, it's impossible to believe that any newspaper editor could be ignorant enough to not understand how this cartoon evokes a history of racist symbolism, or how frightening this image feels at a time when death threats against President Obama have been on the rise.

We talk about the Oscars, Reality TV, that woman with her multiple babies, and just about any other nonsense that comes over the airwaves. We should be focusing our attention on this and calling for putting an end to this type of journalism. Because if we don’t, where will it end? WE CANNOT ALLOW THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD TO BE DEPICTED IN THIS MANNER, Period.