FLIPSIDE - Monkey on my Back!

By now I'm sure you've seen or at least heard about the NY Post cartoonist Sean Delonas who drew a cartoon supposedly of two police officers shooting down a chimpanzee. Okay, to make the cartoon make a little bit of sense, this cartoon was illustrated following an incident where a woman was attacked by a chimpanzee and police were called in to intervene. Subsequently the chimp was gunned down by the policeman in an effort to stop it from attacking the victim.



With that in mind, it seems as though the cartoonist was making light of a situation where a woman was brutally attacked by an animal and nearly lost her life. If that's not peculiar enough, one of the police officers says "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill". Now what are we talking about? Did the monkey write the first stimulus bill? Last time I checked, president Obama had written the stimulus package, so was he the monkey Delonas was referring to? So, its cool to refer to black people as monkeys again huh? Perhaps it won't be long before we can be called niggers and as long as its in a cartoon it will be considered unoffensive.



To add to the insult, the NY Post editor - in - chief, Col Allan released this statement - " The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."



Is that the case? So, not only did the Post editor defend the cartoon, but Allan also took the time to inject a character attack on Rev. Al Sharpton.



It seems as though for every step we take forward, there is always a push backwards. A push that sometimes feels more like a slap in the face, waking us up to the reality that equality is still joke to some. There is no defense for blatant racist motives such as the ones presented in this cartoon. Sometimes it feels as though it is beyond words. I remember watching my mom cry as President Obama won the election in November, as did many other Americans. We had come a long way. Then I see a gunned down monkey in a comic strip being compared to our newly inaugurated president. Sickening.



The editor of the Post defending the cartoon was equally as disgusting. But, I suppose that is just as far as we have come. I was so proud knowing that I could really tell my kids that they could be anything they wanted to be and that includes the president of our great country. However, I surmise that I will also have to tell them that some people will still think you're a monkey. Catch ya' on the FLIPSIDE.