Village14’s own Greg Reibman started his day perusing the daily newspapers and came across this cartoon in the Herald.
At 8 AM he tweeted “Very unfortunate editorial cartoon in @BostonHerald today”.
Very unfortunate editorial cartoon in @bostonherald today. pic.twitter.com/KygHgFGdOG
— Greg Reibman (@Greg_Reibman) October 1, 2014
Within hours his tweet was bouncing all over the Internet and getting picked up across the country. By noontime the cartoonist was on the radio apologizing. “It was completely naïve or innocent of any racial suggestion. I wasn’t thinking along those lines at all,” said longtime Herald political cartoonist Jerry Holbert.
In some newspapers that syndicated the cartoon across the country today the “watermelon” had been changed to “raspberry”, leading many to comment that at least some other editors weren’t as racially tone deaf as those at the Herald.
Perhaps the cartoon was a JOKE!
Janet – Yes everyone know its a joke. The question is whether “those black people sure do like their watermelon” was part of the joke or whether it was a joke about the secret service’s incompetence.
Personally, I believe the cartoonist when he says the “watermelon” part of the cartoon was totally innocent, and he just picked a flavor at random. Even if true it does appear that the editorial staff at the Herald is pretty tone deaf on racial issues if nobody there even noticed the fairly obvious connotation that readers might pick up on.
It’s no different then if a cartoon’s joke, wittingly or unwittingly, appeared to be trading on any other well worn ethnic stereotypes – i.e. “those Irish guys are all drunks”, “those Jews are all greedy”.
The most telling detail is that editors elsewhere quickly spotted the obvious problem with the cartoon. On the grand scheme of what’s going in the world it’s a minor deal but I definitely don’t think it reflects well on the Herald editorial staff.
It’s Alfred E. Newman style humor. If that was Cuomo, the guy would ask if he has Chianti flavored mouthwash. He’s an intruder — not Mr Rogers.
@Hoss – That’s not what the cartoonist himself said. If so, I’d be more concerned than I am at the moment.
I’m just surprised anyone still reads the Herald.
Good catch Greg.
Greg reads the Herald? 😉
On a serious note, excellent catch.
Of course I read the Herald! Lands on my front lawn every day. It’s so important that Boston remains a two newspaper city and there are some good journalists and photo journalists working there.
BTW, Holbert’s cartoon today made me laugh out loud.
Just joking, Greg! I agree with you that it’s important for Boston to have 2 newspapers. Not so fond of its news reporting but they have a few great columnists.
(I read the Herald online)
I used to pick up the Herald just to read columnist Wayne Woodlief. I believe his columns appeared in the Herald twice a week. Woodlief was a dogged digger for the facts; He was open, friendly, unpretentious and very approachable. A real old fashioned reporter’s reporter. He didn’t play “gotcha” reporting and he always treated everyone with respect. I think he was somewhat of a conservative, but he never let this cloud the way he reported on issues or people. He was a great listener. If he asked me a question, I knew he was seriously interested in what I had to say. I don’t know where Wayne is now and couldn’t find anything when I just googled him. If anyone does know, I wish they would let me know.
I hope Boston continues to have two newspapers. I grew up around Chattanooga, TN when it’s two papers were The Chattanooga Times and The Chattanooga Free Press. The Times was a great paper. It was purchased in 1877 by Adolph Ochs, when he was 19, who became its publisher. In 1896 he bought The New York Times. Now the paper is called The Chattanooga a Times Free Press, but should just be called junk.
Thank you for catching this disgusting cartoon and drawing people’s attention to it Greg. For anyone in 2014 to claim that this was an honest mistake is not credible. Particularly those whose day job is all about understanding and reporting on the world.