News’ The Australian In More Strife Over Latest “Racist, Xenophobic” Cartoon

News’ The Australian In More Strife Over Latest “Racist, Xenophobic” Cartoon

A cartoon in Monday’s The Australian has been labelled as “racist” and “xenophobic” after it depicted a black protestor leaning his knee into the Statue Of Liberty’s neck, which responds “I can’t breathe”.

The John Spooner illustration is a play on the police officer who held down George Floyd in a similar manner leading to his death – later deemed a homicide – and has led to widespread race riots in the US.

It also has the masked protestor saying: “I am fighting for the right to do what I hate.”

B&T has reached out to the News-owned The Australian for comment and clarification of the cartoon but had not received a reply by publication.

Comic Pauline Pantsdown was the first to call out the cartoon, tweeting: “I know it’s compulsory for recent cartoonists from @australian to take a swandive off the Bill Leak memorial racist balcony, but it seems they’ve started injecting bleach into their brains now.”

Pantsdown’s comments follow a number of complaints about the racial overtone of many of Leak’s – who died suddenly in 2017 – cartoons that appeared in The Oz.

Others tweeting that they had complained about the cartoon to the Australian Press Council.

Check out some of the social media backlash below:

 

 

 

 




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