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BLACK JOURNALISTS REACT TO EDITORIAL CARTOON: Editor issues apology after picture causes uproar.
*An editorial cartoon published in Friday’s Metro section of the Florida Times-Union that criticizes the “no snitching” policy in hip hop has sparked outrage within the black community and has caused the newspaper’s editor to issue an apology.
The black-and-white drawing, from longtime Times-Union cartoonist Ed Gamble, was reportedly reviewed and approved by Editorial Page Editor, Mike Clark. The cartoon depicts a black man in a backwards baseball cap standing over a gunshot victim while holding a smoking gun. He wears a t-shirt that reads “Don’t Snitch.”
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As you can see, two children, one also dressed in a "Don’t Snitch" T-shirt, says "I didn't see nuttin'." The gunman responds: "Now that's a good little ho." A caption at the bottom reads "the new rule of law!"
A billboard shown in the background features a rapper brandishing a gun, with the words "Rap your life away," while underneath, BET and Warner Music are singled out.
"I was making a point that rappers are demeaning to women," Gamble explained to The Florida Times-Union Sunday.
Clark wrote in Sunday’s paper: "Using the word 'ho' was bad judgment, and I regret that I did not edit it out. The object of the cartoon was to comment on the rise of a no-snitching culture, something that is widely in the news today."
Despite those intentions, response from the black community has been swift, according to Richard Prince’s Journal-isms column.
As previously reported, a statement from Al Sharpton’s National Action Network said the civil rights activist was “appalled” to see the cartoon, and cited the drawing as “further proof that the hip hop community and those who market them must be held accountable for the destruction they are causing in the black community.”
Local NAACP president Isaiah Rumlin said: "I think it's very offensive. It stereotypes a certain segment of the community but certainly when you start using the words whore and whores... that will not be tolerated."
Juan Gray, chairman of the Jacksonville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said: "This does nothing to mend the divide that seems to be growing wider in our community."
