Last weekend De Morgen, a top news source in Belgium, published a rather offensive piece that was meant to be a satirical political cartoon. The premise of the article was based on a fictional scenario where Russian president Vladimir Putin had been asked to write a piece on President Obama, but instead submitted two racist cartoons; one portraying Obama as a drug dealer and the other featuring him and the First Lady as apes.
Editors at De Morgen claimed the cartoons were meant to “satirize how a racist thinks,” but instead of being the hilarious, “progressive” kind of joke they intended it to be, it was actually just offensive. De Morgen has since apologized, but I’m not buying it. The images are strikingly barbaric and reminiscent of the type of “joke” I would’ve expected to see several decades ago, and are nothing less than unacceptable in today’s world.
Oh, and I should also point out that these cartoons hit the newsstands of Belgium just in time for Obama’s visit there this week. How…welcoming.
What do you think is the best way for the Belgian newspaper to rectify this mishap? How/why are jokes like this still considered passable in today’s society?
ShoutOut! James Madison University 