Stop Snitchin' Cartoon

Does this cartoon offend you? Well, according to an article on jacksonville.com this editorial cartoon was not a laughing matter.


Expressions of outrage came quickly, including from the local president of the NAACP.

"Highly offensive and racist," is how Charles Anderson described the cartoon.

It was wrong to suggest that the growing "Don't snitch" phenomenon is limited to the African-American community and use of the terms "ho" and "nuttin' " were over the top, according to Anderson. Phyllis Hall said everything about the cartoon was offensive.

"Most of us are tired of the crime," she said of Duval County's murder rate, which is the highest in the state. "But I don't think demeaning the culture of a race of people is necessary."

She wanted to know who was responsible for allowing the cartoon to get into the newspaper.
Mike Clark, the editorial page editor, reviewed and approved the cartoon by longtime Times-Union cartoonist Ed Gamble.

"Using the word 'ho' was bad judgment, and I regret that I did not edit it out,' " Clark said.
The cartoon came after police assertions that a "Don't snitch" culture has impeded efforts to solve crimes in Jacksonville. A CBS 60 Minutes segment last Sunday focused on the growing problem, especially in inner-city neighborhoods, and how some rap artists have encouraged it.

"The object of the cartoon was to comment on the rise of a no-snitching culture, something that is widely in the news today," Clark said.

"Cartoons, by their nature, take broad strokes that can be interpreted differently," he said. "There was certainly no intent to offend the many law-abiding Jacksonville citizens."
Gamble conceded that the term "ho" is demeaning to women, but added, "I was making a point that rappers are demeaning to women."

He is troubled by the influences of such things as offensive rap lyrics, drugs and no-snitch messages, Gamble said, and his commentary is meant to focus on those issues.
Among the outraged was Juan Gray, chairman of the Jacksonville chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

"This does nothing to mend the divide that seems to be growing wider in our community," he said.


I for one can see the satire in the cartoon, but I can also see how this could come across as offensive to some. But the fact that Cam'ron went on 60 Minutes and said "Even if I knew a serial killer live next door to me I would not snitch...I would just move." These types of comments and others like them have left the door open for this subject to be fair-game by the media.

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