The chimp cartoon that got the world talking..

This cartoon is the reason that I received and open letter by my favourite singer , John Legend .

Open Letter to the New York Post
From John Legend
Today at 9:02am

Dear Editor:
I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon?
If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.
I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well.
You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed.
I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric.

Sincerely,
John Legend

After reading his letter , I googled on the real story . And this is what I read from Times Online :

Protesters gathered outside the New York Post’s Manhattan office last night chanting “shut the Post down” after they claimed a cartoon in the tabloid compared President Obama to a chimpanzee.
The Post's Editor-in-Chief insists his cartoonist was simply mocking the authors of the fiscal stimulus Bill as no better than a team of trained monkeys. But the newspaper’s critics say Sean Delonas’s sketch was tantamount to calling for Barack Obama to be assassinated.
The cartoon, published on page six of the newspaper on Wednesday, showed a policeman standing over the corpse of an ape with a smoking gun in his hand. A colleague says to him: “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus Bill.”
The cartoon was referencing a celebrity chimpanzee named Travis who was shot dead by police in Stamford, Connecticut on Monday, after it mauled a friend of its owner.

Well , I agree with JL that if we chose to practice Freedom of Speech , we have to be responsible and be ready to face the consequences that shall come with it . And , why do you have to use a chimp ? Why not use a Joker or a puppet or sumtin? It's also a disgrace to the animal lovers out there .

So , i'm writing this in support of the misused of the reference subject .