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Perpetuating smears

Regarding the July 16 Point of View "Let's hear the yuks, not the yucks":

The satirical intent of The New Yorker cover is lost because it also depicts the living nightmare that many Americans envision. The cover makes Michelle Obama the running mate of Barack Obama rather than his wife. Even if Obama's campaign were not saying it, the subliminal message is that you are getting two for one. It pictures Michelle as the reincarnation of Angela Davis. She is to be feared just as much as Barack. She holds the firepower and wears the combat boots. She is the angry black woman.

Barack is viewed as the mirror image of bin Laden in camouflage. They are portrayed as the subversive black couple who seek to destroy the ideals of America -- by burning the American flag in the fireplace as they trample on the presidential seal in the Oval Office, giving each other the terrorist victory sign: the fist bump.

The cover takes a lot of distortions, lies and misconceptions about the Obamas and puts a mirror up to them, and this image validates all the falsehoods for some Americans.

Smears are perpetuated not just by those miscreants who wish them to be taken as truth, but also by those who repeat the smears in an effort to dispel them. Each repetition makes the smear sound more familiar and easier to believe.

Unwittingly, this cartoon encourages racism, misogyny and vilification of Muslims and actively undermines Obama's campaign. Anything that gives off even a whiff of racism is not going to render the desired satirical message.

Lydia Lindsey, Durham

It just didn't work

Regarding the July 16 Point of View "Let's hear the yuks, not the yucks":

So a pair of media consultants tells us that the recent New Yorker cover is funny and that anybody who thinks otherwise is deficient in wit or political smarts. They might study the actual cartoon a little more and stop putting down everybody who thinks it stinks.

Satire makes its point by taking something people recognize as reality and twisting it into absurdity. The "reality" the cartoonist says he was lampooning is that stupid people believe a set of lies about the Obamas. But the cartoon is not about those people or what they think or do. It merely shows the lies graphically. That's offensive and tasteless.

Of course, most of us could supply the missing subtext, but why bother? It's not satire, and it certainly is not funny.

Lawrence Evans, Durham

Our ignorance

In his July 17 column "When ridiculousness reigns, satire stalls," Leonard Pitts Jr. stated that we in this country are increasingly "... ignorant, irony-impaired and petrified." Since his column concerns our response to Barack Obama's candidacy for president, he is correct about our ignorance. We are ignorant of who Obama is and what he believes.

We have been given some disconcerting moments by statements of those close to him, including his wife and his long-time spiritual adviser, which indicate a negative attitude toward this country. Yet many in our media who should inform us seem determined to stop any effort to learn more about this man who would be our leader.

The New Yorker cover and article are the latest in that effort. The same circumstance occurred in the last presidential election cycle w\hen John Kerry heavily touted his military service to this country. The media failed to adequately convey the fact that he traded on that service to make, before a senatorial committee, an unsubstantiated claim of widespread atrocities by American military in Vietnam. Those in the media who would call us ignorant might reflect on their role in keeping us so.

William Everett, Cary

The longer reach

The July 16 Point of View "Let's hear the yuks, not the yucks" totally missed the point. It was sad to see a comment on culture and communication looking only at the potential short-term political gains and losses.

There is nothing wrong with being Muslim (and I think Barack Obama has not handled that very well), but this cartoon is riding the waves of a stereotypical, destructive hijacking of the Muslim faith. Unfortunately, it is not about getting or not getting the joke.

I probably agree with the authors that this might actually be of little consequence in terms of allegiance to Obama. What remains disconcerting is that they choose not to see beyond the short-term effects. What this cartoon does is to confirm the hatred of those who are already prone to it and feed into the politics of fear it is supposed to be criticizing. This country has a long history of bad race relations and a recently more intensely orchestrated politics of fear in which this cartoon fits very uncomfortably.

Satire is always political, and its reach and effect are wide and deep when you have the stature of The New Yorker.

Richenel Ansano, Durham

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