Obama=Monkey...?

Although undeservedly, I have come to be known as opinionated and outspoken person which caused a few of my classmates ask [not ax] for my thoughts on this controversial comic published in a New York newspaper. I heard a lot of clamour on the news about a controversial comic that not only insulted the president and African Americans but also offended all sensible and God-fearing Americans.

Up until the point I was asked about my views on the image I had not seen the actual comic. I searched for a few minutes on Google of course and found nothing but a bunch of angry people, white, black, yellow and other who felt outraged that in the new age of King Obama that such hatred could grace the pages of a prominent newspaper. But finally, when my search was done and I looked at the comic I too fell in line with all the other upset people who flooded the net with their rage for fear of choking on their anger.

But why was I so angry?

I saw two white cops execute a monkey, excuse me chimpanzee, with a caption that read: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill." Two cop bullets, a dead monkey, 12 little words and one iconic president later, created a controversy the likes we have not seen since Thomas Nast's pictorials of Boss Tweed that help put an end to corruption in New York City. 

As I looked at the comic I echoed the same exact sentiments and opinions as the television reporters and online bloggers. When I realized that my views fell in line with the masses I stopped to think, were my views an honest reaction based solely on the content of the picture or were they a honest reaction based on the opinions and added information I was fed by the television and Internet.

So I then I asked myself a few more questions:

1. Did the president write the stimulus bill?
2. When I see the president do I think of a monkey?
3. When I see a monkey do I think of the president?
4. Is  the monkey a representative or symbol for black people?
5. If I never heard any other commentary would i still react the same?
6. Is there another plausible explanation for the characters used in the comic?

I answered these questions and arrived at my own conclusion, which may be different than yours, but then again our democracy relies on contrasting ideas and it is precisely our ability to agree to disagree that separates us from the monkeys.