Friday, February 19, 2010

Aussie style Black Cartooning/Caricature back in the good old days...





Just when I thought Id seen everything on the subject of racism/coonism in comics I ran into these old Australian Adverts,and comic You dont get any more explicit than this, and what makes it WORSE is that its in a book aimed at KIDS, thus setting the stage for more advanced racial studies when they got older.

This cartoon, and other like it show the power of images.

1 comment:

Keelan Parham said...

Wow. I am speechless.

Race is an interesting thing. Yes, as caricature artists we HAVE to exaggerate the differences in people's faces. And, like it or not, there ARE differences between the races. At LEAST stereotypically. I think that's what we have to watch out for... stereotypical exaggerations. Drawing an African American, for instance, with larger lips... even though THAT PARTICULAR African American may not have them. Seriously, I've drawn Asians that if their skin was darker, they would look African American. I've drawn African Americans who were as light skinned as I am. One of my buddies I draw with is African American and has dark skin. However, his Grandfather was a blonde haired, blue eyed Irish man. He's got close relatives in his family that are as "white" as I am.

I think the important issue here abotu caricaturing is to exaggerate what IS there, without making assumptions. "Cuz you know what happens when you assume.

BTW... yes, I APPEAR "very white" by most people's definition. HOWEVER, along with my British and German heritage, my great grandmother on Mom's side was half Cherokee. Plus, my great grandfather on my Dad's side always told us there were "whispers" about there being some African American blood on that side... it just wasn't "talked about" back then. So, I have always been interested in racism and so called "reverse racism" ( anyone of any race can be "racist" ).

Racism is ignorance. Plain and simple. We're all God's children, made in His image.

Thanks for posting this, Elgin. Man, though, I feel like I need to go take a shower. These images are just awful.