Letters to Editors – Racism, Antisemitism, Fear

I was in disbelief when I saw the printed cartoon mocking the nomination of a Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States. In disbelief that a publication could be so ignorant and tone-deaf during Black History Month. In disbelief that any editor with an ounce of journalistic integrity would run this cartoon in 2022.

The Lima News got at least a few letters about a Lee Judge cartoon.


© King Features/Lee Judge

I am writing to express my disappointment about a cartoon that was recently printed in The Lima News on Wednesday.

I’m appalled that something so blatantly racist was allowed to be printed.

and

This cartoon on Wednesday was cynical and racist, full stop! It may be comical to some but insulting to me as a Black female. What a way to celebrate Black History Month.

This isn’t about me, but about depicting two white men in your cartoon trying to insult highly qualified Black women and questioning their qualifications to be Supreme Court candidates.

and

Editor David Trinko is apparently a slow learner when it comes to diversity and race relations. Your recent apology for cropping a person of color out of a photo seemed somewhat sincere. Wednesday’s cartoon insulting the credentials of women — specifically black women — in consideration for the Supreme Court is a shockingly clear demonstration of how serious your commitment to diversity and equality really is.

and

I really have to hand it to you for your depiction of the slate of the Supreme Court nominees being considered in your editorial cartoon in Tuesday’s newspaper. You managed to combine blatant racism and misogyny spectacularly in a single cartoon.

Though in Montana at The Helena Independent Record:

I sure enjoyed the political cartoon for Feb. 1, showing just how biased our dear president is. Wouldn’t you rather have the person, that’s most qualified, on the Supreme Court than what the president figures is a balance of color? Hopefully there is a African-American lady that is the most qualified. Apparently that doesn’t enter into this equation.

 

At The Daily Hampshire Gazette the Steve Sack cartoon draws a comment:

The syndicated cartoon published in the Jan. 20 edition of the Gazette is plain ol’ Cold War fearmongering that oversimplifies the recent aggressive comments made by the U.S. regarding Russia, and reinforces the image of the U.S. as the “cops of the world.”


© Star Tribune/Steve Sack

The U.S., with our tax dollars funding imperialist interventions to destabilize regions worldwide, with more military bases worldwide than any other nation, is in no place to point fingers when it comes to imperialism.

 

To The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via MSN) about a Steve Kelley cartoon:

In the city that experienced the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, just days after a hostage situation at a synagogue in Texas, you published an editorial cartoon on Jan. 20 propagating the very antisemitic theories that fueled both events.

 
© Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Steve Kelley

Steve Kelley’s editorial cartoon illustrates this conspiracy theory, depicting a Jewish man as the controller of money behind the justice system, calling him a “madman.”

 

The Laconia Daily Sun got a disapproving letter about a Chris Britt editorial cartoon.

 
© Chris Britt

Thank you to the editor of The Daily Sun for the “cartoon” showing us how you really feel about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the most senior person of color in our entire nation. The idea that he is so dumb, he needs his (white) wife to tell him how to do his job, is the most condescending, racially bigoted and offensive piece of trash you have ever printed. But by all means, please do go on.

 

Applause in New Hampshire for Steve Breen and his Public Service Announcement:


© San Diego Union-Tribune/Steve Breen

Steve Breen’s cartoon promoting blood donation made me smile. Thanks for finding room for it on your editorial page. It was a simple image with an important message, in view of the Red Cross’s recent appeals for blood donors to meet a nationwide shortage of blood products. Go to redcrossblood.org to learn more about donor eligibility and to find blood drives around the state.

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