01/25/08:'Junkie' Cartoon Had No Place In Cap Times - Allen Ruff
'Junkie' Cartoon Had No Place In Cap Times
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A9
Friday, January 25, 2008
Allen Ruff, Madison
Dear Editor: As a paper that claims to be "a voice for peace, justice and social reform," The Capital Times owes an apology to the Arab community for the stereotypically racist cartoon image run on your Forum page on Monday.
The cartoon, "The Dealer and the Junkie," replicated the oft-repeated caricature of a corpulent, goateed and sunglassed Arab man withholding barrels of oil from a prostrate Uncle Sam.
Numerous factors, including overall skyrocketing global demand, U.S. corporate greed, unbridled domestic consumption, inadequate refinery capacity and, significantly, market volatility caused primarily by the U.S. invasion of Iraq and threats to attack Iran, have contributed to the inflation in the price per barrel. The cartoon vulgarly suggests that it is some greedy Arab "pushers" who are solely responsible.
Such bigoted portrayals reproduce the kinds of prejudices that feed into a public acceptance for imperial intervention and war as solutions for economic woes brought about by the unsustainable dependency of an economy totally based on petrochemicals and hydrocarbon fuels.
Even worse, they dehumanize and set up a particular people as "the other," the cause of our problems. It's a historically dangerous path, one upon which self-described progressives should not tread.
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: A9
Friday, January 25, 2008
Allen Ruff, Madison
Dear Editor: As a paper that claims to be "a voice for peace, justice and social reform," The Capital Times owes an apology to the Arab community for the stereotypically racist cartoon image run on your Forum page on Monday.
The cartoon, "The Dealer and the Junkie," replicated the oft-repeated caricature of a corpulent, goateed and sunglassed Arab man withholding barrels of oil from a prostrate Uncle Sam.
Numerous factors, including overall skyrocketing global demand, U.S. corporate greed, unbridled domestic consumption, inadequate refinery capacity and, significantly, market volatility caused primarily by the U.S. invasion of Iraq and threats to attack Iran, have contributed to the inflation in the price per barrel. The cartoon vulgarly suggests that it is some greedy Arab "pushers" who are solely responsible.
Such bigoted portrayals reproduce the kinds of prejudices that feed into a public acceptance for imperial intervention and war as solutions for economic woes brought about by the unsustainable dependency of an economy totally based on petrochemicals and hydrocarbon fuels.
Even worse, they dehumanize and set up a particular people as "the other," the cause of our problems. It's a historically dangerous path, one upon which self-described progressives should not tread.
Submitted by wnpj on Fri, 02/01/2008 - 5:19pm.