OlderJohn Legend’s Open Letter To NY Post
The New York Post has apologized for a Sean Delonas cartoon that supposedly compared President Barack Obama to a chimpanzee.
The drawing showed two policemen over the body of a chimpanzee they’ve just shot as one officer says, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”
Neo-soul John Legend had written an open letter to the NY Post about it:
Dear Editor: I’m trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?
(Click inside to continue reading John Legend’s letter…)
If that’s not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can’t imagine what possible justification you have for this. I’ve read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It’s about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.
I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I’m personally boycotting your paper and won’t do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well.
You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed.
I’m well aware of our country’s history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don’t need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric.
Sincerely,
John Legend
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153 Comments
BLAH BLAH BLAH, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, Tired of the Blacks and their BOOHOO’s,
that cartoon touches the raw nerve of the Darwin-based association between black men and apes. though the discussion about whether Africans are the missing link between apes and humans may be out of the classroom today, it’s still in the media
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19726434.300-racial-stereotyping-persists-in-nonracists.html
“UNCONSCIOUS stereotypes lurking within even overtly non-racist Americans appear to be leading them to dehumanise black Americans in subtle but important ways.
That is the disturbing conclusion of work by psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt at Stanford University in California and her colleagues. They set out to test if any vestiges remain of a racist stereotype that was common a century ago: that black people are more apelike, and thus less human, than white people.
The team subjected 121 university undergraduates, including 60 whites, 39 asians and seven blacks, to tests that used a technique known as subliminal priming. The students were briefly flashed a photo of either an African-Amercian or a European-American face, and then shown a blurry picture of an ape. Those who saw the black face were quicker to recognise the ape, the researchers found. This effect was not seen when whites were shown an Asian face. This …”
in other words…this is not the past, it’s NOW! racism in the media exists
Thank you John Legend
I am a die hard Hilliary supported and I found that cartoon offensive. I am suprise to know that Sillyme is black and did not find the cartoon offensive to her. I dont believe she is black. It has nothing to do with whether you are a liberal. I tend to be Liberal, conservative and moderate depending on the issue.
I don’t agree that the cartoon was intended to be racist. Presidents are criticized all the time. It comes with the territory. As public figures, they expose themselves to the public’s opinions.
If this cartoon were to pertain to former President Bush, I don’t think anyone would be complaining.
Yes, the cartoon was rude & deragatory. Just don’t go around claiming it’s blatant racism when there’s isn’t any concrete proof that it is.
……………..IS THIS IS 2009?
(or am I mistaken?)
This is just rich coming from John Legend. Didn’t he wear a Kuffiyah - traditionally Palestinian checkered white and black scarf to the Super Bowl? That is now equivalent to wearing a swatsticka. Peoples ignorance is amazing. The hypocrisy on Legends part is amaziing. Was he truly ignorant about what he was promoting?
I thought in this new enlightened age of Obamma the Messiah race was not an issue. But it certainly comes out a lot more.
You people make me sick, John legend is talking about this cartoon being indorsed by a major newpaper. Did you guys see where the cops killed the monkey and the other cop said that they will have to find someone to sign the next stimulas bill. they should not have put the caption on the cartoon. I wish someone would investigate, I think that news paper was taken over by Rupert Murdock all part of fox. Remember the American people have been told all these years that these newspapers are all liberal. I always knew better, but the right wing sold that lie real good. The US news and World report is not a liberal magazine, The National review is not liberal has always been ran by the right wing. I could name a whole lot more information servise organization that have had right wind lending all alone but have been sold to the american people as liberal. Why do you people think the war was not reported on like all other wars. I bet they will start reporting everything about the war now. which is a good thing. But these news organization protected President Bush, Did not do any investigative during the time he was President. Thats why we the American people do not know what happened to all the money and why are we so indebted to communist china. I thought the right wing always hated china because they were such bad communist. I dont see them asking question about why we are indebted to them. But they hate Barack Obama a true American.
A very clear and well written letter
It’s not hatred that kills people.
It’s indifference.
LYNN, you are 1000% correct.
The “Liberal” media myth is total horsesh_it
What’s the BIG Deal, isn’t that where monkeys come from anyway, AFRICA, same as where blacks did!!!
THE NEW YORK POST NEEDS TO BE BOYCOTTED BY EVERYONE!!!
THIS WAS CLEARLY VERY RACIST…..
For the Post to deny that is even more outrageous!!!
Great letter Mr. Legend…I hope heads do roll, and that we all keep talking about this until they do.
It is amazing how many people have come ‘out’ of the closet with their blatant racism since the election.
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES.
BOYCOTT, What a bunch of CRAP!!!, Let’s BOYCOTT, OPRAH & BET, which promote the RACE ISSUE every chance they can!!! Same ole Same Ole Whining from Blacks!!
“groundcontrol @ 02/20/2009 at 5:26 pm President Obama doesn’t write legislation. Congress writes legislation. The monkey is not supposed to be the President. The monkey is congress. Maybe Pelosi or maybe Reid. Someone the artist obviously thought was deranged.
It was an obvious source for a joke since the shooting of a deranged monkey wrecking havoc was so prominently in the news. ”
*************************************************************
Thank God! Finally, someone who actually has an understanding of the basic structure of our government (something we ALL should have learned in 5th grade.)
We have a SEPARATION OF POWERS in the US, with three branches of government — the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. The President is the Chief Executive. He does NOT draft legislation, the legislative branch does (the US House of Representatives and the US Senate). It is so sad that the majority of those who were so elated to have a black President haven’t a clue as to what the President actually DOES.
The cartoon can’t be about Obama if Obama is not the one who wrote the Stimulus Bill. And he was NOT. He is not constitutionally empowered to draft legislation. He can lend his vociferous support and he signs final legislation into law (or can withhold his signature), but he CANNOT draft legislation.
As for being critical of the Post or of ANY paper that seeks to criticize our government — that is one of the principles on which this nation was founded — a FREE PRESS. That freedom includes the age-old tool of political satire. No one said a peep when the press bashed Bush. But the right of the press to criticize a sitting President doesn’t apply only when YOU dislike the President. The role of the press should be that of a neutral, equal-opportunty basher. If you fail to understand the critical nature of such freedom, then take a look at any third-world dictatorship where the GOVERNMENT determines what information is disseminated to the masses.
If you disagree with the editorial position of any paper, you have a right not to purchase it. But the answer is not to muzzle the press when it doesn’t take the position the government in power WANTS it to take. Once you do, you have taken the first step toward totalitarianism.
Please… has anyone ever heard the saying, it’s so easy a monkey could do it? I think that is the theme of the cartoon. I am so sick of people playing the race card, it wasn’t intended to be racist & I don’t think the NYP should have apologized.
That what I was thinking of when I saw the comic strip.Its like it was monkey business with all the pork / wasteful spending in the bill.But, I really believe this outrage is meant to distract us from the real issues like wasteful spending and the obvious fact that we have a empty suit in office.Say something in any way critical of Obama and then your racist.So sick of this race card being pulled out.
We focus too much on the negative that even when something was not intended to depict racism, the social norm is to assume that it is. I think in order to stop racism, people need to stop making everything about race - people are just empowering the idea of racism.
Cartoons that have been more offensive has been published and accepted when it is about a white politician. Are we no longer trying to strive for equality? If so, then why is it offensive to publish a cartoon about an African American politician when we’ve done much worse to a white politician.
We should never forget our past, no matter who you are. The past makes us who we are today, but should not control us and our way of thinking. Why is it racist to call Obama a monkey when we call Bush a monkey? The association of apes and African Americans does not exist nowadays. If you walk out on the street an ask any one other than an African American person this question: “when you hear the word ape, do you think African American?” or the question “do you think African Americans are apes?” i am sure the answers you get is no. I understand that there are ignorant people out there and there are racist people who exist in today’s world. But our society as a whole has come very far - we’ve elected an African American person into office and we have many powerful people in our society who are African American.
If the concern was truly about an assasination threat to our President, then I agree, this cartoon should not have been published. Unfortunately, the focus has not been about the fact that the cartoon depicted a killing, it was that the ape was meant to depict an African American. Also, would people find this cartoon offensive if the racist theory was not in the media? I am sure no one would’ve noticed this cartoon if it was not all over the media.
I have to ask: Why is it when a white man is falsely accused of a crime it is just *shrugged* off, but if an African American man is falsely accused of a crime it becomes a racist act? Why is it if an African American hires an African American instead of a white man, it is okay; but if white man hires a white man instead of an African American, he is racist? Why is it if an African American hits a white man, he’s a bad person; but if a white man hits an African American, he’s not only a bad person but he’s racist? A person is a person is a person, whether s/he is African American, Chinese, Japanese, European, Indian, Caucasian, Hispanic….etc
#108 WHAT THE *** U TALKING ABT HOW IS THAT SAME AS A SWATSTIKA???? UR GAY GET A LIFE U IDIOT
TRISH UR A *****, JUST COS THEY COME FROM SAME PLACE DONT MEAN THEY HAVE TO BE THE SAME OR THOUGHT OF SAME, ONE IS HUMAN ONE IS ANIMAL. SEE ITS RACIST LIKE U THAT MAKE THIS WORLD A HORRIBLE PLACE.
This is yet another reason why I admire John Legend. He used sincerity and heartfelt emotion in response to a disgusting, reprehensible and irresponsible action by a newspaper that should have known better. I am embarrassed to know that first, someone drew the picture and second someone published it and then the zinger is that there are actually people out there who don’t see it for what it was. “So easy a monkey could do it?” come on lopz are you serious???? That’s really what you think the satire was???? Oh my gosh…How much pondering did it take to come up with that one???
#119 you’re an even bigger idiot, you prat. Claming equality for all men, equality for black and white while it’s been demonstrated that for now all we can get is equity, which is a bunch of crap if you ask me, and in the meantime, you despise gay people ?
Get some logic, you idiot.
some of the comments after #103 are only justifying Atty. General Holder’s assertion that America is a “nation of cowards”. the research supports Legend’s p.o.v. NOW DEAL WITH IT. the cartoon was racist. like most things regarding racism it’s complex.
it’s never A=B and C=B so A must = C when it comes to race in the real world. there is history and context and power structures and nuance.
#85: All presidents earn respect when they are sworn in as president. And who are you to decide who goes to heaven and hell?? For what it’s worth, I disagree with 95% of the junk that comes out of Obama’s mouth. But it doesn’t really matter if I agree with him or not, he’s my president, and he deserves respect simply because he’s president of my country. Bush never got that same respect and I think it’s ridiculous.
I will continue to boycott the NY Post. I have not read the paper since the publishing of Tawana Brawley’s name in its rag. As a rape victim, her name should NEVER have been known. Also, they way they described the teens in the Central Park jogger case. Some of the teens have been declared INNOCENT because of recent DNA evidence. When they give the paper out for free, which I have seen them do on Wall Street, I don’t take it! I would urge ALL to do the same.The paper is clearly racist! They offer no apoligies for any of the damage they cause. The half-assed one they gave was just that! I would think that such a cartoon would appear in a southern newspaper. Not to slam southers but they have historically been less than sympathatic to all people non-white. To print such a picture in a city where the backgrounds of every indiviudual is the most diverse in the world is crazy. What type of response did they think they were going to get? Or was there intent clear all along, to sell more papers.
Well said. Some of the media outlets in this country are currently taking a leave of their sense.
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