Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Feb. 23, 2009 – The New York Post decided to offer an apology to those who may have been offended by the cartoon depicting the president as a monkey.  But the paper didn’t go far enough to say it’s sorry for the editorial decision to publish the cartoon in the first place.

That could be the reason why folks are still upset and continuing to call for a boycott of the paper and its advertisers.  Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the NAACP called on The New York Post to fire the editor-in-chief Col Allan and the longtime cartoonist Sean Delonas.

Jealous speaking at the NAACP’s annual meeting in New York called the editorial “a half of an apology, without elaboration.”  The leader of the century-old civil rights organization said the cartoon “picks off the scabs of all the racial wounds.”

Jealous was joined in his outrage by the Rev. Al Sharpton and New York City Council member Letitia James (D-Brooklyn), who told reporters outside of the KISS FM radio headquarters that they also wanted to review the employment records of The Post because they want to determine if the newsroom staff represents diversity.

But that’s not all. James and Sharpton are starting an on-line petition drive to collect signatures that will be sent to the Federal Communications Commission calling to remove the waiver the paper enjoys, which allows the  parent company, News Corp., to run more than one media outlet in the area.  They run the local Fox television news station as well. 

“This is not the first time they [The Post] have denigrated people of color,” said James. “Now is the time to do it.”

NAACP officials told The Associated Press that if The Post does not take “serious disciplinary action,” they would reach out to organizations across the country to join them in their efforts against the tabloid.

A spokeswoman for the newspaper referred The Associated Press to the paper’s editorial about the cartoon, which said “a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism . . . most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize.”
James and Sharpton said they will be staging a protest on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday.

Do you think the apology was sincere? 

TAGS: Benjamine Jealous, Letitia Jamea, NAACP, New York Post apology, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sean Delonas

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