Am I overreacting to this political cartoon. . .

[wndycty]

. . .on the one hand it makes a good point, but for some reason I'm offended that the two vendors shown in the cartoon as being "America's first line of defense" are two white guys when it was two men of color who alerted police.

Am I being too sensitive? Am I overreacting?

[Oregone]

1. Hot dog guy is clearly a person of color. Most likely arab

Yes, the ice cream guy is white, but likely a Russian immigrant

It would be a travesty if this cartoonists didn't represent diversity. It would be worth a death threat almost to offend our liberal senses

[wndycty]

8. I noticed it in the Chicago Tribune and in the print edition . . .

. . .the guy in the green shirt looks white. When I posted to jpeg I didn't pay close enough attention to his complexion.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Yes. It's a cartoon.

Anyhow, the guy with the hotdog looks kind of brown. But it's just a cartoon, intended to depict "generic" street vendors. No need to find offense where none was intended.

[RandomThoughts]

12. I agree!

Your post is really thoughtful, isn't in the intent? Isn't that what matters? Yet how often do we try to put thoughts about people on them from our own thoughts?

And no offense to the OP, you are thinking about things, I do that also. Sometimes I am able to know that it is intention, and sometimes think as you posted also. So it is really a normal thing people do.


There are many things that could be the intent of the author in that clip, sometimes it is lingo used in some groups, then it is intent, sometimes it is correlation without causation, so each person decides what it means.

[rrneck]

3. Maybe a little.

It's not accurate, but it's just a cartoon.

[Ian David]

4. Guy in the green shirt looks kinda brown-ish. n/t

[Oregone]

6. Exactly, and everyone in the cars look black

We do not need to issue a fatwa on this cartoonist. This time at least

[LiberalAndProud]

5. First line of defense? I see 2 vendors looking for customers.

[MrScorpio]

7. Growing up black in America means that one has to see our fair share of whitewashing

So, it's just par for the course.

We live with it all the time

[bobbolink]

15. Yes, and often quite well. It doesn't make it right, and doesn't mean that it isn't time for others

to see it.

From one invisible person to another.

[dems_rightnow]

9. Yes

It's a cartoon. They guy may even thought of this and avoided darker skin tones to avoid "Portrayed as nothing but street vendors!"

[HughMoran]

10. Doesn't it imply that the government is relying on street vendors for intelligence?

I find that to be a right-wing swipe at the administration.

[Chemisse]

17. That seems to be the whole point of the cartoon

It is a right-wing swipe.

But the observation about the skin colors of the street vendors is an interesting one.

On the one hand, you could argue that it is almost racist for the default guy to be white - as in white is typical, white is 'normal', particularly when the actual street vendor was of color.

On the other hand you can argue that it would be racist to portray them as being a color other than white in the cartoon because - as Dems pointed out above - darker skinned people are then being "Portrayed as nothing but street vendors!"

It's a good thing to talk about.

[geckosfeet]

11. I think that your observation is fair enough.

Why not just put camo on them, swap out the carts for M16 wannabe's and show them prancing in the woods.

On the other hand, had the bomb detonated the street vendor and many others could have died.

[Sebastian Doyle]

13. I get what you're saying

but I never would have thought about the vendors being "white guys", if you hadn't pointed it out. I would have just interpreted the cartoon as a comment on how "Homeland Security" or even NYPD can't spot the "terraists" and the street vendors end up doing their jobs.

And, as others have pointed out, the hot dog vendor DOES seem to be somewhat darker than the ice cream guy.

[bobbolink]

14. As a person who is often ignored, I see your point and agree.

But, of course, those of us with more sensitivity will usually be told to "get over yourselves", or better yet (and more insensitive) "Grow a skin".

Why does this culture hate sensitivity?

[Quantess]

16. It's a fairly lame 'toon overall.

Not particularly offensive (to me), but it's just kind of weak.

[murielm99]

18. The guy in the green shirt could have been more brown.

That would reflect the reality of the city.

Heaven forbid that the guy in the yellow shirt be brown. He is wearing his cap backward. That might imply that he is a gang member.

Actually, I don't care that much. The cartoon was not offensive. It was funny and it made a point. But I have seen much more incisive, effective cartoons. This one was good, but it was only of passing interest. It was like a good, but not great, joke by a stand-up comic. The comic makes us laugh, but if he keeps perfecting his routine, one of these days he will have us rolling on the floor, laughing.

[crim son]

26. Pretty much what I was going to post.

I wonder, also, if the cartoonist purposely made the skin shading subtle so as not to make an issue of the skin color of the hero of the day. I understand why it matters, but I also understand why it does not.

[kentuck]

19. Maybe a bit of over-reaction?

I think the Vietnam vet was selling T-shirts - not ice cream?

[GoneOffShore]

20. It's probably offensive to TSO's, but that's a good thing.

As they are mostly useless anyway.

TSA - Thousands Standing Around

[Obamanaut]

21. Yes, and yes. nt

[frustrated_lefty]

22. If people of color were depicted

it would have been racist stereotyping, implying that hot dog stands are only run by minorities.

[izquierdista]

25. I don't know about hot dogs

But most of the ice cream push-carts I see are paletas and are in Hispanic areas.

[Nikki Stone1]

23. Yes. This is a joke.

Be glad you're not the butt of it.

[lunatica]

24. Not everything is racist

If any minority is shown then it becomes about race or ethnicity itself. I really doubt any insult was meant.