Hundreds of protesters have demonstrated against a racist New York Post cartoon released on Feb.18. The cartoon depicted police riddling a chimpanzee with bullets—in reference to a recent incident—lamenting, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”
Civil rights leaders decried the cartoon as a racist attack against President Barack Obama, in the tradition of centuries of racist stereotypes and violence against African Americans.
Within hours, picketers were demanding an apology. On Feb. 19, hundreds took to the streets chanting “Shut it down,” “Boycott the Post,” and “End racism now!” The Post eventually was forced to issue a quasi-apology.
The Post has published other hate cartoons in the past. In 2006, a cartoon by the same artist, Sean Delonas, portrayed a man carrying a sheep wearing a bridal veil to a “New Jersey marriage licenses” window. The cartoon was a clear attack against the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling granting same-sex couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.
