Spike Lee wants boycott of New York Post over chimpanzee cartoon - Matt-Hughes.com Official Forums

#1 02-21-2009, 09:21 PM

BY Caitlin Millat and Tracy Connor
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Updated Friday, February 20th 2009, 7:53 PM

Filmmaker Spike Lee led the call for celebrities to join a boycott of the New York Post Friday during a raucous protest of a racially charged cartoon.

Joined by his 11-year-old son, Lee told a crowd of about 300 people that he has bought the tabloid in the past - but no more.

And he suggested athletes and entertainers shun the paper's writers because of Wednesday's cartoon, which compared President Obama with a crazed chimp by some interpretations.

"This is not the end," Lee told the demonstrators, who marched in front of the Post's offices near Rockefeller Center shouting, "Shut it down."

"It's not just black folks. It's an insult to everybody."

He was joined by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called the paper "a racist rag sheet" and TV judge Greg Mathis, who said executives from parent company News Corp. must be held accountable.

The protest leaders are calling on advertisers to boycott the Post and are vowing to take their money out of banks that buy space in the paper.

The single-panel cartoon by Sean Delonas showed the bloody body of the chimp responsible for Monday's attack on a woman in Connecticut, with two cops.

"They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill," one of the cops says.

The paper printed a half-hearted "apology" for offending anyone with the cartoon Friday - but protesters said the note, with its dig at Sharpton, was insincere.

"They should apologize on the front page," said Vivienne McLean, 62, of Manhattan. "I'm outraged that the stereotypes I encountered as a child still exist today."

Manhattan youth worker Salaam Ismail, 50, said the cartoon brought back painful childhood memories.

"I was called a monkey in elementary school by a group of white kids," he said. "I was a victim of racism \[then\] and I am again today."

Erin Bradley, 32, a copywriter from the East Village, said the Post was her "guilty pleasure" until this week.

"I'm never buying it again," she said. "I'm a Daily News customer now."

tconnor@nydailynews.com

#2 02-22-2009, 12:18 AM

I can't even believe this. OBAMA DID NOT WRITE THE STIMULUS BILL! How anyone can say that is a racially prejudiced cartoon is beyond me. Bush was called Hitler (most peoples idea of the worst person ever), a criminal, A MONKEY, an idiot, a ignorant hillbilly, and a bunch of other things. Not to mention a movie was made about assassinating him. This country is done.

Tyburn · #3 02-22-2009, 09:14 AM

I'll boycott it...since I dont buy it anyway

#4 02-22-2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh

I can't even believe this. OBAMA DID NOT WRITE THE STIMULUS BILL! How anyone can say that is a racially prejudiced cartoon is beyond me. Bush was called Hitler (most peoples idea of the worst person ever), a criminal, A MONKEY, an idiot, a ignorant hillbilly, and a bunch of other things. Not to mention a movie was made about assassinating him. This country is done.

You're absolutely correct. President Obama did not write the stimulus bill, but it's his reputation that's directly linked to it. When concerns over it's validity arise, he's the one that's brought to the limelight by the media. Not the actual writer(s) of the bill.

Yes, President Bush was called Hitler, and that's really uncalled for. When the insults were hurled about President Bush, not too many people made a public response to it........with all that said, the cartoon is NOT DIRECTED AT THE ACTUAL WRITER(S) OF THE STIMULUS BILL! The cartoon, in it's stereotypical interpretation, is pointed at President Obama. There's no denying that, is there?

I, personally, don't think that the cartoon was done in good taste. If Spike Lee wants to call for a "celebrity imposed" ban on The New York Post, it's his right to do so, the same as it's your right to say that 'this country is done'.

Later.

#5 02-22-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billwilliams70

You're absolutely correct. President Obama did not write the stimulus bill, but it's his reputation that's directly linked to it. When concerns over it's validity arise, he's the one that's brought to the limelight by the media. Not the actual writer(s) of the bill.

Yes, President Bush was called Hitler, and that's really uncalled for. When the insults were hurled about President Bush, not too many people made a public response to it........with all that said, the cartoon is NOT DIRECTED AT THE ACTUAL WRITER(S) OF THE STIMULUS BILL! The cartoon, in it's stereotypical interpretation, is pointed at President Obama. There's no denying that, is there?

I, personally, don't think that the cartoon was done in good taste. If Spike Lee wants to call for a "celebrity imposed" ban on The New York Post, it's his right to do so, the same as it's your right to say that 'this country is done'.

Later.

I totally disagree. What makes you say that? Because it has a monkey in it? I understand that a monkey is used as a racial slur but it is also used to say that someone is not very bright ( "they could train a monkey to do this job"). Since Obama did not write the bill and the bill is generally viewed as a bad thing in our country it is obvious to me that the implication was a monkey could have written it. As far as Spike Lee goes I don't really care what he does. I am more concerned that there is a significant uproar over something like this.