Post's Cartoon Apology No Good for Spike Lee

(NEWSER) - Hundreds of protesters led by the Rev. Al Sharpton assembled outside the New York Post’s headquarters today to condemn the paper's now-infamous chimpanzee cartoon, Newsday reports. Protesters called for a boycott and vowed to return tomorrow. They insist it's a racist slam against President Obama, while the paper calls it a "clear parody." More»

The real, centuries-old conflict is between urban elites and small towners

(NEWSER) - It's a mistake to see the growing backlash against President Obama through the prism of race, David Brooks writes in the New York Times. The anti-Obama movement springs not from racism, but from the long American tradition of popular distrust of the urban elite, argues Brooks. He notes mostly white anti-government protesters happily mingled with people from an African-American event in the capital last weekend. More»

Image was easily misread, but it's just a cartoon

(NEWSER) - The New York Post cartoon that has Al Sharpton up in arms was poorly thought out, to be sure, writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. It "was offensive for reasons unrelated to race," she argues, but it’s important to remember that “outrage is out of proportion to the offense, and demands for retributive justice are more dangerous than a lousy cartoon.” More»

Paper apologizes, to some, over cartoon many called racist

(NEWSER) - The New York Post has apologized—to almost everyone—for the editorial cartoon that sparked protests and accusations of racism. "It was meant to mock an ineptly written federal stimulus bill," an editorial says, acknowledging that the cartoon chimp was taken by some as a racist depiction of Barack Obama. "This most certainly was not its intent," the Post writes. More»

Is it racist, or just morbid?

(NEWSER) - A somewhat inscrutable, certainly tasteless, and possibly racist cartoon by Sean Delonas appeared today in the New York Post and other newspapers, prompting complaints from several quarters, reports the Huffington Post. In a reference to the recent chimp attack in Connecticut, the cartoon shows two police officers, one with smoking gun, standing over a dead chimp. One officer says, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” More»