This morning, the latest issue of The New Yorker Magazine hit the stands. Let's see if I can quickly run down every stereotype and fear-mongering image that I see on the cover (shown above):
- "Terrorist" fist jab
- "Scary" Muslim, black man, foreigner, and terrorist all wrapped up in one (a la Barack Obama's turban, ethnic garb, sandals, and picture of Osama bin Laden over fireplace)
- "Militant" and "angry" black woman (a la Michelle Obama's afro, machine gun, camouflage attire, and combat boots)
- Unpatriotic (a la the American flag burning in the fireplace)
- Fear that black people and minorities, in general, are "taking over" (a la the Obamas standing inside the White House - the give away clues for this one are the oval shaped room (represents Oval Office) and the Presidential rug underneath the Obamas' feet)
Within a 24-hour period, this cover garnered so much outrage that The New Yorker felt the need to release a statement. It's as follows:
"(The cover) combines a number of fantastical images about the Obamas and shows them for the obvious distortions they are. The burning flag, the nationalist-radical and Islamic outfits, the fist-bump, the portrait on the wall. All of them echo one attack or another. Satire is part of what we do, and it is meant to bring things out into the open, to hold up a mirror to prejudice, the hateful, and the absurd. And that's the spirit of this cover." Source: Associated Press
In defense of The New Yorker, it is a left-leaning magazine that has published several pro-Obama articles. Despite such history, I still cannot excuse the magazine's decision to publish this cover. At best, it is in poor taste and at worst, it reinforces racial and ethnic stereotypes and fears via a legitimate news source. In short, The New Yorker should have known better.
More than anything else, this election season has proven one thing: A significant portion of the American people are not critical thinkers or intellectually nuanced. Thus, despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary, these people continue to believe rumor and innuendo. Remember, these are the same people that needed Barack Obama to wear a flag pin in order to believe that he "loved America" and wasn't unpatriotic or Anti-America. These are the same people who believe Obama is a Muslim and a terrorist simply because his name rhymes with a person who is. Although intelligent and reasonable people will be able to see The New Yorker magazine cover as satire, it is this other group of "non-thinkers" incapable of doing so that makes this magazine cover so problematic.
