A cartoon published on 19 September in The Chronicle Herald newspaper and on the Saltwire website that poked fun at the large number of people running for mayor of Halifax caused a stir in Canada. The joke uses the image of a monkey to represent a candidate.
Michael de Adder's cartoon, entitled"We're going to need a bigger ballot", showed a bald white man and a monkey sitting on a sofa. The man wears a T-shirt with the word "everybody" across his chest, while the animal wears a similar T-shirt with the words "your monkey".
A newspaper on the floor reads the headline"16 people are running for mayor", while the monkey says:"Hey, I'm running for mayor of Halifax too".
On 24 September, Darryl Johnson, the only black candidate among the 16 running for mayor, wrote this text on his Facebook account next to a photograph of the cartoon published in print:
"Not even a week that I announced I was running for mayor and a few days later this was published. It was just shared with me now. Folks I have to say I am frustrated, disgusted and discouraged that this level of racism is still prevalent in Halifax.
This is a blatant attack on me as a candidate and this is one of the reasons I am running. Every one of us should be outraged. I will not allow this to impact or impede my progress to make change in our democracy and government, so folks who aren’t heard can be.".
As reported by CBC News, de Adder initially defended his cartoon in a message that he deleted shortly afterwards:"I think this cartoon is clear and I will not apologise. I will not retract it. If anyone thinks this cartoon is about a candidate, they are wrong. Fullstop.
However, shortly afterwards de Adder admitted that it had been a mistake and that he had been overly defensive when the cartoon was initially criticised. That he had no intention of offending Johnson, or anyone else, that he drew the cartoon without considering how it might be received by the black community and without knowing that there was a black candidate in the mayoral race.
He claimed that the monkey was not intended to represent any candidate and that he only used the expression"every man for himself" because it was a phrase he remembered hearing often from his childhood.
Johnson said he had never heard that expression about the ape and that De Adder should have researched who the candidates were and should have known not to use an ape in the image as, historically, this association has been used to dehumanise people.
"Intentional or unintentional, biased or non-biased, the simple fact is ... people in my community know that historically there's been correlations between Blacks and primates, monkeys or apes, so right away that was offensive."
Michael de Adder did not shy away from the debate and in the same thread offered explanations and clarified his mistake:
"Darryl, First I'm sorry any cartoon I drew may have upset you. It wasn't my intent. I'm a hard working editorial cartoonist whos message tries to be the polar opposite of how you interpreted my election cartoon.
I'm disappointed there are not more people of colour running for mayor considering there are so many running. I know the connotations of drawing a monkey in relation to issues in the black community. I can see how you interpreted this drawing as something unfavourable. I promise this was not my intention. I counted 16 names and didn't think of race when I counted, just numbers.
I also was just trying to get through my day with a second deadline pending. If it had registered that there was a black candidate, I would have considered "everybody and his dog" or would have considered something entirely different, I certainly do not think of any man as a dog, or a monkey. Good luck in the race. I hope this cartoon hasn't affected your desire and drive to run. I am also sorry for getting my back up. I should have recognized how you saw my cartoon and wrote this first thing".
All's well that ends well
I'm glad to know the outcome of the story because usually these things get complicated and positions become entrenched, but this was not the case this time.
Yesterday, the two put the matter to rest with a handshake, and Darryl Johnson posted this message alongside photos of the "peace summit" at the cafe, which he also shared from Adder.
"Just a short time ago a cartoon was released by artist, Michael deAdder. The cartoon caught all of our attention, who most were offended.
Michael reached out and explained his miscalculation and any harm he caused to myself and my community. I explained the history behind such a correlation. We ended having a great conversation and becoming fb friends.
I am sharing this because it demonstrates that even in moments like this we can learn from each other. I’ve always prided myself on bringing people together. Now Michael is added to that list. I hope we all can do the same…".
Related:
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
