Boston Herald prints Obama cartoon with 'watermelon' reference

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Is the joke that the intruder is a dumb, racist shit, yet still was able to outmaneuver the security? I mean he is taking a bath in Barack's bathroom, which is the most private of rooms (i guess) and he is being blatantly racist towards him, without seeming to be aware of it? Aka he is so dumb, yet still smarter than the security?

I dont get the joke, if there is one.
 
To be fair I did not realise that this was suppose to be someone breaking into the White House; is this not just reflecting the idea of someone breaking in and being racist casually? Mocking the idea of any of these incidents being casual or somehow not much to worry about?
 
Obviously they are saying the intruder is racist. How much of the super Obama haters seem to be.
That's what I assume they were going for, even if it is pretty forced and doesn't really add anything to the gag. Unless someone decided to be an idiot and add it after the cartoonist submitted it.
 
T or F: Boston is pretty racist for a Northern metropolitan city

An honest answer is that it's a little overblown. The major issue is that very real and very awful racism is part of the city's recent history like the busing in the 70s. Today, though? It isn't worse than any major city.

besides being completely tasteless, i'm not sure how this even works as a joke

I think the premise of the joke is fine, if just not very funny. The intruder got even further than expected, being cozy enough with the place to not only take a bath but to recommend that the President try out some of the new toothpaste!

The comic was stupid, but I think the insult was directed towards the intruder not to Obama.

The choice to use watermelon as the flavor is a pretty clear cut dogwhistle.
 
T or F: Boston is pretty racist for a Northern metropolitan city

Surprise most northern metropolitan cities are racist, ask any white guy/gal how quick racist jokes fly when there are no minorities around
EDIT: It alsoseems like the joke is that the intruder is racist? Im not sure
 
That is one shoddy drawing of a bathroom: the flat low tub without a faucet, no demarcation for the tiles / floor area, bubbles everywhere but no visible soap, how about draw a towel? and so on... what a hack!
 
My friend spent 4 years there for college and was super excited to move because "it's super racist". He's a white guy. Can't imagine what it's like for minorities if that's how he felt.

I'm a minority that has spent a quarter of my life in Boston and has not really experienced racism. I did once, but it was from another minority so I don't really understand your point about him being white.

Let's make this thread about a ridiculously dumb comic and not turn it into another 'Boston is racist' thread.
 
Surprise most northern metropolitan cities are racist, ask any white guy/gal how quick racist jokes fly when there are no minorities around

Truth. Pure 100% truth. Not shocked. Boston was a racist shithole when I visited and I'm not shocked nothing has changed.
 
Is the joke that the intruder is a dumb, racist shit, yet still was able to outmaneuver the security? I mean he is taking a bath in Barack's bathroom, which is the most private of rooms (i guess) and he is being blatantly racist towards him, without seeming to be aware of it? Aka he is so dumb, yet still smarter than the security?
.

I could buy this as the thinking.

The character is racist. That doesnt mean the cartoonist or paper necessarily are.
 
The choice to use watermelon as the flavor is a pretty clear cut dogwhistle.

A dogwhistle of what? That there is a stereotype about black people and watermelon? I think everybody knows that, or at least most do in the U.S. It's a dumb joke anyway, really nonsensical to let it though.
 
I get the racism, but I don't get the joke, at all. Did the cartoonist think the combination of black + watermelon is funny regardless of content or delivery?
 
This is a stupid political joke. What's it criticizing? What's the point of it? Whoever drew it just wanted to make a stupid racist joke from the looks of it.
 
I could buy this as the thinking.

The character is racist. That doesnt mean the cartoonist or paper necessarily are.

I think that may have been the intent, but the editor has to have the awareness to see how racist it is to put that in the paper. Backlash was unavoidable with that cartoon, and it never should've made it to print. The joke is just as effective if the intruder says any flavor of toothpaste.
 
Do people really not get the joke? It's a one panel comic, it's not very hard to understand.
This is a stupid political joke. What's it criticizing? What's the point of it? Whoever drew it just wanted to make a stupid racist joke from the looks of it.
The Secret Service said they tackled a guy who climbed a fence onto the White House lawn. Later it was leaked that they lied and he got much further into the house than they initially reported before he was tackled.
 
Was there any story about the invader being a racist? Maybe that's the joke.

The intruder is actually a renowned watermelon eating contest winner. This story sent shockwaves through the watermelon competitive eating community. The cartoonist is actually a frequent participant in watermelon eating competitions, which is how the reference ended up in the cartoon.
 
A dogwhistle of what? That there is a stereotype about black people and watermellon? I think everybody knows that, or at least most do in the U.S. It's a dumb joke anyway, really nonsensical to let it though.

It's a dogwhistle, even if pretty overt, because it gives people an opportunity to argue it. Inserting "fried chicken flavored" instead wouldn't even garner an argument about the intent.

But watermelon is just a fruit everyone enjoys! I wasn't being racist!
 
It's a dogwhistle, even if pretty overt, because it gives people an opportunity to argue it. Inserting "fried chicken flavored" instead wouldn't even garner an argument about the intent.

But watermelon is just a fruit everyone enjoys! I wasn't being racist!

Right, but I don't see how anyone with a brain would buy that. All I can go off of is what I THINK the intention was. Of course, I don't know the cartoonist so I don't know for sure. It's like when a racist character is created, the creator does not neccessarily agree with the attitudes of his creation. He's making a statement about culture. When Norman Lear created Archie Bunker, I didn't think it made him racist.
 
The cartoon is joking about how incompetent the Security Service was in the recent case of the White House intruder. He did make it pretty far into the White House, although obviously not into the President's personal bathroom. The comic is using exaggeration as humor to make light of this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exaggeration#Humour

Ah, I see. Makes sense but...the cartoon is overshadowed by the joke that's in bad taste.
 
The intruder is actually a renowned watermelon eating contest winner. This story sent shockwaves through the watermelon competitive eating community. The cartoonist is actually a frequent participant in watermelon eating competitions, which is how the reference ended up in the cartoon.
Was it this guy?
giphy.gif

GAF loves him.
 
I get the racism, but I don't get the joke, at all. Did the cartoonist think the combination of black + watermelon is funny regardless of content or delivery?

The joke was that the guy was suggesting that the president try the new flavor of toothpaste. The sad part is that the racism was entirely unneeded as he could have gone for something more topical like pumpkin spice (as it's fall now).

Basically the guy is a racist idiot.
 
There are so many ways they could have made this joke without putting a racial stereotype in. The guy surprising the President by bathing in the White House and him getting farther then security thought is a decent set up. But the punch line is not only racist, it's not funny and muddles the meaning of the joke in the first place.
 
Right, but I don't see anyone with a brain would buy that. All I can go off of is what I THINK the intention was. Of course, I don't know the cartoonist so I don't know for sure. It's like when a racist character is created, the creator does not neccessarily agree with the attitudes of his creation. He's making a statement about culture. When Norman Lear created Archie Bunker, I didn't think it made him racist.

The fact that you're willing to construct a universe where the creator of a one panel comic strip decided to add Archie Bunker-like depth to his one-sentence character by making him unnecessarily racist, kind of proves my point that it's a dogwhistle.

This very discussion is proof of just how effective using watermelon as short-hand racism really is.
 
Is the joke that the intruder is a dumb, racist shit, yet still was able to outmaneuver the security? I mean he is taking a bath in Barack's bathroom, which is the most private of rooms (i guess) and he is being blatantly racist towards him, without seeming to be aware of it? Aka he is so dumb, yet still smarter than the security?

I dont get the joke, if there is one.

That's precisely the joke. If some dim-wit got that far then security must be REALLY DUMB.
 
T or F: Boston is pretty racist for a Northern metropolitan city

Boston is an unintentionally segregated city. The neighborhood identity is very strong in Boston and Boston suburbs, and when the city forced busing in the 1970s it did so in the name of racial desegregation, but it was a complete disaster that the public school system has still yet to truly recover from (despite the policy ending in 1988). The social result (in addition to riots) was a strong antipathy towards Black and Hispanic people from low income predominantly White Irish communities, like South Boston.

Whether it's any more racist than anywhere else has always been a point of debate, and in particular prominent athletes always claimed it was, like Bill Russell (and he had more than enough reason to).

So, from those perspectives, Boston is as racist a city as any, perhaps more so than cities in other parts of the country that went through the crucible of civil rights. But, then you have counter-factual evidence given that Boston (and Massachusetts) is the most Democratic state in the United States, and Boston and the towns around Boston are considered amongst the most liberal in the country. Also, for a predominantly white electorate, the state resoundingly went to Obama in 2008 and 2012, I'd imagine it was the strongest white vote for Obama along with Vermont and Maine. Further, those predominantly White, second-generation Irish communities have broken down over the last 20 years, either catering to a university crowd and young professionals. The Irish identity is more diffused than it was, and the people who are becoming adults now have little memory of the race riots of the 1970s and 1980s.

On the cartoon ... I think that it's trying to portray the intruder as a racist... and therefore the secret service completely lax. But... I can't really tell, pretty weak.
 
But, then you have counter-factual evidence given that Boston (and Massachusetts) is the most Democratic state in the United States, and Boston and the towns around Boston are considered amongst the most liberal in the country. Also, for a predominantly white electorate, the state resoundingly went to Obama in 2008 and 2012, I'd imagine it was the strongest white vote for Obama along with Vermont and Maine.

Plus, while Massachusetts in general rather than Boston specifically, Deval Patrick has been the governer since 2007.
 
The fact that you're willing to construct a universe where the creator of a one panel comic strip decided to add Archie Bunker-like depth to his one-sentence character by making him unnecessarily racist, kind of proves my point that it's a dogwhistle.

This very discussion is proof of just how effective using watermelon as short-hand racism really is.

I never said he was adding depth or was as clever. I'm saying I don't know if it was his intention to offend. There are many racists characters created, nowhere near as sophisicated or in-depth as others.
 
Wait, this is news to me, in the US, it's a form of racism to imply that black people like watermelon? how did this even became a thing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_stereotype

Is there any other kind of food that is used as a form of racism?

bananas, watermelon, fried chicken.


most are black insults, but bananas are more general since anyone can be called a monkey -- black people tend to get that more often, however.
 
Wait, this is news to me, in the US, it's a form of racism to imply that black people like watermelon? how did this even became a thing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_stereotype

Is there any other kind of food that is used as a form of racism?
Yes, watermelon (and fried chicken) being associated with black people are old racist ideas in the U.S. I'm not sure of the origin, but a google search could probably clarify that.
 
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