Obama Cartoon Takes Me Back to 1990

This cartoon controversy reminds me of one that visited Page High School during my senior year (1989-90). I wish I had a copy of the cartoon, but at least the News & Record archives reminded me of some of the details.

"The student walkout came after a cartoon appeared in the school newspaper depicting a black student wearing a basketball uniform and holding a watermelon and a chicken leg. The cartoon also depicted stereotypical images of an Asian and a Hispanic student." (I had forgotten that there had been a student walkout.)

If memory serves me, that description captures the first three frames of a four-frame cartoon. In the fourth frame, I believe a teenager expressed something like, "Do you actually know anyone like this?" The intended message was that stereotyping is not a positive thing to do, but many individuals chose to interpret it differently. You could say that that was because high school students were involved. But that doesn't account for reactions to the New Yorker's cartoon.

In both cases, sensitivity is probably greater because we know that there are individuals out there who do see things almost precisely as illustrated in the cartoons. Some of us don't care to be reminded of that.

When I became a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill, another stereotype-based controversy erupted because of a new statue that I believe was called "The Student Body." It included about five or six students in different poses. The one who appeared to be an African-American male had one finger up, balancing a basketball. There was also a couple, with the male holding a book and the female leaning into him. (I think she might have been holding an apple.) And there was an African-American woman with several books balanced on her head. Ancient history, but I believe that statue is still there, minus at least the basketball scholar--someone kept knocking the ball off his finger. (As an additional sidenote and reminder of how twisted politics can be, that same year, the KKK endorsed Harvey Gantt, hoping that he'd win, serve horribly, and forever ensure that no other blacks would ever be elected again--I believe that was KKK members' expressed logic. And NORML--the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws--endorsed Jesse Helms, believing his pro-tobacco views gave them some sort of shot at gaining his support for marijuana legalization.)

Hardy's Anime

For several of the 32 area high-school students traveling with us through the People to People Student Ambassador Program, Japan represented a dream destination, in part because of their love for Japanese anime and manga. We adults on the trip were less familiar with these artforms, but we too partipated in an anime seminar on our second day in Tokyo, where our journey began.

After some discussion and demonstrations on a dry-erase board, we each were provided a chin-and-nose template and markers on which to create our own anime character. As a non-artist, I was unsure of myself and intimidated by the assignment, but ultimately, I jumped in and produced my own creation.



One of the other adults told me that my creation reminded him of the Joker. I still haven't come up with a name for my character, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

A Struggling Cartoonist

When this cartoon first appeared over at Plead the First, several people noticed.

A few days later, a second cartoon drew my attention.

Adding a local political cartoonist was one of the best additions to the News & Record's editorial pages.

It had not made any sense that the daily newspaper for an area as material-rich as Greensboro/Guilford County hadn't had its own cartoonist to exploit and expose deserving individuals and incidents.

I definitely believe that certain individuals need to be challenged and that certain incidents need to be exposed.

A good cartoonist has a powerful tool (or weapon) at his disposal: the ability to draw images that, sometimes combined with just a few words, have the ability to challenge our thinking about and our understanding of the world around us.

A good writer or a good speaker also has the ability to affect our thinking and understanding, but the cartoonist's advantage is that he usually needs far less time and space to make his point.

At the same time, when he uses his tool/weapon to make strong points, a cartoonist almost always risks negatively affecting someone else's sensibilities.

It's also certainly possible that a person could be hurt by finding himself or a cherished value/issue "cartooned."

Another occupational hazard for the cartoonist is that viewers might misread or misinterpret his cartoon.

I lack the talents necessary to be a good cartoonist: being able to draw at least reasonably well, being able to capture issues and opinions succinctly, etc.

But I greatly admire the artform of cartooning.

I admire (and envy) cartoonists for what they are able to create and accomplish with their cartoons.

My respect and appreciation for Anthony as a cartoonist has only grown from reading his recent explanations and analysis of his own work.

It might be easy for some of us to picture critics (cartoonists/speakers/writers) as people who simply live to skewer others and skew issues.

It's therefore healthy for us to have a glimpse into critics' minds and hearts.

From his words, Anthony strikes me not only as a man of passion but also as a man of compassion.

He's not just sitting back, hoping to throw punches at people and issues for the fun of it.

There's a more sincere hope that we will be inspired to think more deeply about ourselves and about the issues surrounding us.

Inpsiring people to evaluate themselves and the world around them more deeply has always struck me as a noble cause.

Anthony thoughtfully analyzes the complexities of cartooning, specifically examining his recent experiences with two of his cartoons.

By exploring the complex, complicated nature of cartooning in an open forum, Anthony provides important insight and understanding for us all.

Cartoon Dialogue

When I saw this cartoon, I knew it would likely offend some people.

And that others would take delight in their interpretations of the cartoon.

Jean Rodenbough felt strongly enough about the cartoon to write a letter to the editor.

Anthony Piraino (the cartoonist) responded to Jean's letter.

Jean replied back.

Others shared their opinions also (Bishop, J.C. Burcham, the Liberal Conservative, R. Bennet, and the nitpicker, so far).

I appreciated reading the trail of thoughts on this subject.