Yes, this is actually something a newspaper in the United States ran today. The Boston Herald decided to make a joke about how an intruder was recently able to infiltrate his way into the White House, but for some reason the cartoonist, Jerry Holbert, felt the need to have the intruder ask President Obama if he's sampled watermelon-flavored toothpaste. Because that's a thing?
Guess what—everyone is (rightly) pissed about this:
The Boston Herald cartoon Twitter is buzzing about... I just... Watermelon? 😒 #racism #whiteprivilege pic.twitter.com/fVNvyqwtNa
— [Bae]lock Holmes (@Apten0dytes) October 1, 2014
That Boston Herald racist cartoon is very reminiscent of how Jews were portrayed in cartoons in the early 1900s by Nazis.
— Matt Murphy (@MattMurph24) October 1, 2014
we're not a post racial country until a newspaper asks Obama if he's using pumpkin spice toothpaste
— David D. (@DavidDTSS) October 1, 2014The Boston Herald just issued a statement on the cartoon. And I say statement because it's not really an apology at all. Herald spokeswoman Gwen Gage said, "Contributors to our Editorial and Opinion pages have the right to express their views, and satire is clearly used in Jerry Holbert’s cartoon today. That said, we sincerely regret if we inadvertently offended anyone and extend our sincere apologies."
Nah, Boston Herald, you overtly offended everyone.
UPDATE: Jerry Holbert, the cartoonist behind this abomination, has responded to the criticism and has basically said, "No guys, I'm not racist, I'm just into fruit that is mostly water." According to Talking Points Memo:
He told the hosts that he had "no intention at all of offending anyone" and that he doesn't "think along the lines of racial jokes." While he acknowledged that his jokes can be "naive" or "stupid," he said he was definitely not racist. He repeatedly emphasized that he "wasn't thinking of the racial element" when he used watermelon toothpaste.
"I was thinking of myself," he said. "I really like watermelon."
UPDATE 2: Since the first apology was not one at all, Holbert apologized again on Boston Herald Radio. "I want to apologize to anyone I offended who was hurt by the cartoon," the artist said. "It was certainly, absolutely, not my intention. I was completely naive or innocent to any racial connotations. I wasn’t thinking along those lines at all."
