It depicts Judge Sotomayor strung up by a rope, likening itself to lynching images or a piñata, with President Barack Obama wearing a sombrero, holding a stick and asking a crowd of elephants (Republicans) “Now, who wants to be first?”

The cartoon is captioned “Fiesta time at the confirmation hearing.” See the cartoon here on our ConfirmSotomayor.org blog.

Piñatas are actually of Mexican tradition and Judge Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent. Clearly, either the artist confused his stereotypes or sees the Latino community as one homogenous race without distinction.

Too much damage has been done to our communities under the guise of “satire” and this recent publication marches to the same drum as did the cartoon of the chimp in the New York Post and the Danish cartoon depicting Mohammed as a terrorist.

We’ve re-posted below a statement from Jean Warner, chair of the Oklahoma Women’s Coalition, in response to the vicious editorial cartoon.

Please read Ms. Warner’s post and write to the publisher of the newspaper (see end of the post).”

Regarding today’s political cartoon in the OKC paper: What was The Oklahoman thinking?

Oklahoma ranks as the 3rd worst state in the nation for women.

Much of what holds Oklahoma women and girls back is linked to our state’s culture of violence and disresepct for women. Oklahoma ranks #4 in women murdered by men, #1 in child abuse and our domestic violence shelters are full of women escaping violence.

So The Oklahoman today runs a cartoon showing Sonia Sotomayor – a brilliant Hispanic woman scholar, lawyer and judge – strung up by a rope while men with clubs prepare to have at her for believing she’s qualified to serve on the US. Supreme Court.

Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton, received a JD from Yale Law School where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal (but she grew up in the projects; obviously “that girl doesn’t know her place” – right? wink, wink). President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York where she served with distinction (but she’s a woman and, worst yet, ambitious – right? wink, wink). She’s served on the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit for 10 years, heard over 3,000 cases and written over 380 opinions (but she’s of Puerto Rican descent ~~ ergo the piñata image – right? wink, wink).

Not funny; actually stupid and damaging. A picture speaks louder than words and that cartoon sends a message to women of all ages: “Back off. Know your place. Or we’ll take a stick to you and teach you a lesson.”

Shame on The Oklahoman and its publisher, David Thompson!

Write to publisher David Thompson, let him know this kind of journalism is irresponsible and demand a retraction

]]> http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2009/06/editorial-cartoon-on-judge-sotomayor-has-subtext-of-lynching-stereotypes-latinos/feed/ 1 http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2009/05/nabj-statement-on-future-of-journalism-senate-hearing/ http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/2009/05/nabj-statement-on-future-of-journalism-senate-hearing/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 19:51:01 +0000 Keith Kamisugi http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/?p=738 Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, today issued this statement:

On Wednesday, a panel of digital and traditional journalism industry experts testified at a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and Internet Hearing on “The Future of Journalism” about the challenges and successes facing online news aggregators and newspapers today.

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) has worked on behalf of newspaper journalists for more than thirty years, yet many of our most talented members are rapidly becoming unemployed or leaving the profession out of necessity.

The intellectual property of journalists must be preserved, and NABJ supports any effort that seeks to afford news agencies a greater capacity to retain and compensate black investigative reporters, editors and other journalists while respecting the growth of digital journalism.

NABJ Board Member Charles Robinson, who attended the hearing, told Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) after the hearing that diversity needs to be a part of the overall discussion and a more diverse panel should be part of future discussions. Robinson also told the Senators that NABJ was available to help draft a diversity component of any future legislation affecting the newspaper industry.

The recently released 2009 ASNE newsroom diversity census is disconcerting for revealing that black journalists are losing their jobs at a greater rate than any other ethnic group, but it is especially disturbing that minority ownership or representation in newspapers was not a topic at Wednesday’s discussion.

Of the five panelists, there were no black representatives and only one minority. It is disgraceful that a discussion on Capitol Hill about the future of newspapers can happen without doing more to incorporate the perspectives of America’s increasingly diverse population.

NABJ will continue to work with news agencies, publishers, editors and others to promote diversity and affirm that our members are offered cutting edge training to keep them ahead of the curve.

At the same time, we call on our nation’s leaders to open their eyes to the communities that surround them and ensure that black media representatives have a seat at the table as new legislation is discussed.

As EJS President Eva Paterson and others have argued, the answer to that question is a resounding “no.”

In a piece published Wednesday, Cal psychology professor Phillip Atiba Goff states that persistent simian stereotypes tagged to blacks are not mere small and unimportant post-racial leftovers of the “bad old days,” but significant psychological mechanisms of discrimination.

“It is tempting to … downplay the significance of ‘isolated events’ of bigotry and ‘armless words or pictures.’ But precisely because the dream of post-raciality is seductive for so many, it is all the more important that we not forget that cartoons like the one in today’s New York Post are never isolated-and consequently, never harmless,” he writes.

“Psychological science has long known that words and pictures, far from harmless, can be the very instruments of dehumanization necessary for collective violence-regardless of how innocently they are intended.”

Some editorial cartoonists don’t seem to be too alarmed by the negative structural impact of their drawings, falling back on old excuses that place freedom of speech and expression over responsibility.

In an article today, AP National Writer Jesse Washington gives voice to these cartoonists who feel beleagured in their attempts to practice their craft.

Washington even quotes Mike Lester of the Rome News Tribune in Georgia saying that “perhaps race relations would improve if black people lightened up a bit” and that Black folks are “not too good (at being) made fun of. We can all take a joke.”

This is a perfect example of why we need to reject the notion of a post-racial America: too many Americans want to use “post-racial” and the election of President Obama as excuses to dismiss the racism that exists in all of us and in society – and to fuel the illusion that our country has fully realized the promise of equal opportunity.

Eva Paterson is included in a story by ABC7′s Mark Matthews on President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which will make it easier for people to get the pay they deserve — regardless of their gender, race, or age. The Act was introduced by Bay Area Congressman George Miller.

As an organization involved with UNITY, it will be fascinating to see what the survey reveals.

It’s also the first time I’ve heard of the Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based The Loop, but I’m a new fan.

“The Loop provides in-depth analysis of economics and politics, plus black opinion, from across the nation. Our mission is to lead the debate on black progress in America by looking beyond the headlines to uncover how news affects the lives of people of color. The Loop looks at the problems that hold us back and highlights thoughtful ideas and solutions. In short, we tell you what the mainstream news doesn’t. And we want everyone to join the conversation. Issues thought of as ‘black issues’ — education, poverty, civil rights — are national issues that affect people of every race.”