New York Local News

NEW YORK (CBS) ― A Page Six cartoon in Wednesday's New York Post has stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy. It's being labeled, racist, offensive, and an attack on President Barack Obama.

The old newspaper phrase "hot off the presses" has new meaning for the Post because the cartoon has lots of people hot under the collar.

"Here, you have someone using race-tinged cartoons to racially offend the president," The Rev. Al Sharpton said.

At issue is Wednesday's Sean Delonas cartoon that shows a cop shooting a monkey to death while his partner says they'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.

Sharpton said it's worse than Don Imus' derogatory comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. The Post, Sharpton said, seems to play into the old stereotype of African Americans being monkeys.

"This inference is something that is divisive, something that is offensive and something that should not be quietly accepted," Sharpton said.

Governor David Paterson had plenty to say on the subject.

"They do feed a kind off a negative and stereotypical way that people think, but I think if it's enough that people are raising this issue, I hope they would clarify it," he said. "In a situation like this where an economic downturn has shown in the past that it does lead to a lot of unnecessary and stereotypical characterizations, an explanation is in order."

"I'm trying to be fair to the New York Post, who has never been very fair to me," he added.

People CBS 2 HD spoke with seemed to agree.

"It's racist," said Preston Hal of Harlem.

"It's pretty disgusting. Shame on you," Pashia Dear added.

"He, the President of the United States, they have no respect for the man," said Jordan Bettway of Englewood, N.J.

"That's a direct shot at our commander in chief," said Ron Morrison of Fort Lee, N.J. "It's appalling in America that someone could, you know, write something that terrible about the president and have it published.

"Someone needs to get fired."

Post Editor in Chief Col Allan issued a statement saying, "The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy."

Sharpton said he's going to picket outside at the Post on Thursday and if they don't take action against the cartoonist and the editor who approved the cartoon he's going to demand that the advertisers stop their ads.
Sharpton said he expects other community activists and groups to participate in the project.

When Sharpton did the same thing after the Imus controversy, it cost the I-man his job.

Others denounced what they called the Republican slant of the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid.

State Sen. Eric Adams called it a "throwback to the days" when black men were lynched.

"How could The Post let this cartoon pass as satire?" said Barbara Ciara, president of the National Association of Black Journalists. "To compare the nation's first African-American commander in chief to a dead chimpanzee is nothing short of racist drivel."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs declined to comment on the cartoon Wednesday. "I have not seen the cartoon," he told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama returned to Washington from Arizona, where he announced his plan to deal with the foreclosure crisis. "But I don't think it's altogether newsworthy reading the New York Post."

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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