Florida NAACP Gets Crazy Bug Up Its Ass That Stereotype-Riddled Editorial Cartoon Is Offensive

jharv | August 21, 2007 1:03 am
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A Florida man has singlehandedly destroyed editorial cartoonists’ rich tradition of racial sensitivity and sane, reasoned discussion of volatile cultural issues with his visual commentary on the current furor over hip-hop’s less salubrious content, which features a slack-jawed black man standing over a murdered “snitch” and calling a little girl a “ho” in pidgin ebonics and a rhetorical flourish about the record industry’s complicity in the upper-left corner. Oddly enough, some people find this white man’s stereotyping a little, you know, off-putting, and the local chapter of the NAACP has put artist Ed Gamble and his paper on blast:

The NAACP president, Charles Anderson, called the cartoon “highly offensive and racist,” according to a Sunday piece by Times-Union reader advocate Wayne Ezell.

Anderson added that not “snitching” isn’t limited to the African-American community, and that the terms “ho” and “nuttin'” are offensive.

“Using the word ‘ho’ was bad judgment, and I regret that I did not edit it out,” said Times-Union Editorial Page Editor Mike Clark.

Ezelll wrote that the cartoon was drawn after police said a “don’t snitch” culture has hurt efforts to solve crimes in Jacksonville, and that a recent “60 Minutes” segment “focused on the growing problem, especially in inner-city neighborhoods, and how some rap artists have encouraged it.”

Gamble acknowledged that the term “ho” is demeaning to women, but added: “I was making a point that rappers are demeaning to women.”

Nothing to bolster the seriousness of your argument like claiming that “nuttin” is as offensive as “ho.” Still, I’m just glad that Imusgate has allowed clods and clowns of all races and creeds to come together to denounce offensive hip-hop on their own indefensible terms, helpfully shooting yourself in the ass when trying to bring attention to real problems like anti-snitching campaigns. Now more than ever we need Al Sharpton’s entertainment oversight committee.

Fla. Paper Apologizes For Use Of “Ho” In Cartoon NAACP Calls “Racist” [Editor and Publisher]