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You know, I just don't think these folks get it.

Why is it when people use caricatures, cartoons and illustrations of things that are clearly construed as racially insensitive, they sheepishly grin and say they "didn't mean it as anything racial"?

Like my grandmother used to say: Sometimes I have to laugh to keep from crying.

The latest of these stupid illustrations is part of an e-mail sent out by Los Alamitos, Calif., Mayor Dean Grose that depicts the White House front lawn as a watermelon patch. Keyanus Price, a local businesswoman, received the e-mail and was appropriately offended.

Yeah, Grose apologized to Price, and everything's supposed to be smoothed over -- and, of course, you'll have the expected cavalcade of comments and bloggers who say blacks "need to get over it." But in my mind, we're not the ones who need to get over anything. Mainstream American culture does. ...



This watermelon thing was the latest in a string of racially tinged controversies aimed at President Obama that he graciously never responds to but offends those of us who feel demeaned because of our ethnic background.

During the presidential campaign, an Inland, Calif., Republican women's group sent out a newsletter depicting Obama surrounded by ribs, fried chicken and watermelon. And we all know about last week's New York Post controversy with the cops shooting a chimpanzee and referring to the stimulus package.

Now, all these people say they "never meant to offend anyone" with these acts. HELLO!!! MCFLY! If you're in a position of communicating to the public, would it be too much to ask for you to be sure that your message does not deride anyone?

I once heard someone try to explain that these were harmless caricatures that have no ability to offend anyone. That they were just food and animals. What a prick!

I'll try to shed some historical light on it. Chicken, watermelon even ribs are a part of the American diet that's true, and people of all colors enjoy them at picnics. But there was a time when impoverished and enslaved blacks could have only the most meager of provisions, including chicken, watermelons and pork parts, because that's all they got after plantation owners threw scraps at them.

These became stereotypical symbols of black America -- people who could only afford to eat what was left over. That in turn became how many jokingly looked at blacks and was soon tied to images of little black sambo, pickaninnies and others. Couple that with the association of blacks with monkeys, as simian creatures are native to Africa (but not exclusively), and it creates an entirely new level of institutionalized racism: bigotry through culture.

Now, everyone's ancestors suffered through something, no matter what color. Everyone can tell a story somewhere in his or her family line of oppression, famine, forced assimilation, etc. But those things are never a joke to be blown off in something as fleeting as a cartoon.

Why is it that with African Americans, suffering is comical fodder?

Don't get me wrong, if anyone has a sense of humor about our culture it's black folks. Believe me, we kid each other about every little quirk. Frankly, my white friends and I always razz each other on the simple things, but that's because we're friends and we understand one another.

But to just use a stereotype as a joke is trite and thoughtless. It isn't funny. Never has been.