New York Post Is Sewer Of Journalism

By Colin Benjamin The Post revives memories of those Southern newspapers during the Jim Crow Era that indoctrinated whites with racist propaganda that often led to traumatized pleas and lifeless bodies swinging from antebellum trees. Make no mistake about it: this cartoon is advocating assignation.

[Speaking Truth To Power]

The New York Post has proven that America isn’t yet a “post racial society.”

The reigning champion of journalistic sleaze in New York City has done it again, with their Feb. 18 cartoon depicting a bullet-riddled chimpanzee, shot down by cops, meant to represent President Barack Obama with the caption: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

The cartoon was done by Sean Delonas. One of Mr. Delonas past cartoons compared gay people seeking marriage licenses to sheep lovers. Col Allan, Post editor-in-chief claims “The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut.” He also said of the cartoon “It broadly mocks Washington’s effort to revive the economy.”

What a bunch of bull. Question: how does a caricature of President Obama as a chimpanzee shot by police “broadly mock Washington?” Is Allan really that obtuse? Or does he think we’re that dumb to believe his asinine assertions? If President Obama was a white president would Allan still think this cartoon was just a harmless “parody?”

It’s clear what’s going on here: racist resentment hiding behind journalistic clothing. Then again, sewer journalism is the specialty of the New York Post. This paper isn’t even worth wiping rear ends with. The Post revives memories of those Southern newspapers during the Jim Crow Era that indoctrinated whites with racist propaganda that often led to traumatized pleas and lifeless bodies swinging from antebellum trees. Make no mistake about it: this cartoon is advocating assignation.

Even more outrageous is this cartoon’s insensitive “parody” of the reality of urban city police murder that has snuffed out the lives of many Black men like Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell.

Now, the Post will argue for its First Amendment Rights. But remember this: freedom of speech isn’t absolute in America. For, one thing there’s the “no shouting fire in a crowded room” and “fighting words” exceptions. However, media manipulators often blur these lines with no consequences.

But in this case there must be consequences—especially economic ones—for the disdain that the New York Post shows toward Black people through this cartoon. The depiction of Blacks as monkeys, or, animals is nothing new in this racist society. Black humanity has repeatedly been devalued by white America and its white-wash press corps.

But in this Era of Obama we must stand strong and steadfastly resist bigotry, especially, in the media industry.

The fact that Allan and the other dimwit New York Post “gatekeepers” had no problem running this despicable cartoon illustrates their utter disregard for the dignity of Black people. If we let them get away with it, whose fault will that be? Isn’t it time we “shut them down?”

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