On Wednesday, the editorial pages of the Albuquerque Journal ran the following editorial cartoon from Sean Delonas:
As expected, a lot of people thought this was a stupid idea and made sure the Journal knew about it:
Wow. This insanely racist cartoon ran today in the @ABQJournal, my hometown newspaper and the first place I ever worked. The paper has always had a conservative editorial board, but this is next-level. pic.twitter.com/QY60tBD1bQ
— Kate Linthicum (@katelinthicum) February 8, 2018
The @ABQJournal thought it would be a good idea to run this racist ass cartoon from an illustrator named Sean Delonas. This cartoon is a slap in the face to the estimated 6,800 DACA recipients who call New Mexico home. pic.twitter.com/1hyZk1YYjC
— Tina Vasquez (@TheTinaVasquez) February 8, 2018
The @ABQJournal ran this cartoon .
Sean Delonas often does work for Rupert Murdoch. After Pres Obama signed the stimulus bill, Delonas depicted 2 white officers shooting a chimpanzee – “They’ll have to find someone else to sign the next stimulus bill”
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) February 8, 2018
Words and images are still hateful and offensive, even when they appear in a cartoon. The @ABQJournal should apologize.
— Tom Udall (@SenatorTomUdall) February 8, 2018
Several state senators blasting @ABQJournal on floor for publishing editorial cartoon depicting gang members being called Dreamers. #nmleg
— Dan Boyd (@DanBoydNM) February 8, 2018
On Thursday, the Journal’s Editor in Chief wrote this:
Journal Editor Karen Moses issued an expanded statement Thursday morning:
Political cartoons are often satire and poke at more than one point of view. I do not presume to know what cartoonist Sean Delonas was trying to convey in his cartoon that was published in Wednesday’s Albuquerque Journal. But on one level it appeared to us to be poking at President Trump’s rhetoric by portraying a quaking Republican couple who were painting Dreamers with a broad, totally false, brush.
Obviously, that was not the message received by many readers. Instead, many saw an extremely objectionable cartoon and thought that was the position of the Journal. It is not.
In hindsight, instead of generating debate, this cartoon only inflamed emotions. This was not the intent, and for that, the Journal apologizes.
I repeat that the Albuquerque Journal does not condone racism or bigotry in any form.
I also want to reiterate that we do not agree with many of the opinions expressed on the editorial pages, which are intended to encourage debate. Also, the editorial board decides what to publish on these pages, and that is separate from the newsroom and its reporters.
Granted, it’s not like the Journal didn’t know about Delonas:
Sean Delonas is also responsible for cartoons like this: pic.twitter.com/yt15fE0TSP
— Tina Vasquez (@TheTinaVasquez) February 8, 2018
And this convenient re-writing of history: pic.twitter.com/fjQVBQa57k
— Tina Vasquez (@TheTinaVasquez) February 8, 2018
the same cartoonist, sean delonas, did this racist cartoon about obama. @ABQJournal knew what it was doing publishing his work pic.twitter.com/oFmY8s8IIg
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 8, 2018
