I have an idea for how the New Yorker can turn this situation around.
Judging from the interviews with the New Yorker editorial staff, it is clear that they did not expect this reaction.
That goes to show their own inability as white men to understand the depths of racism that still exists in this country, and also an inability to think about the consequences of running such a cartoon in this day and age.
On the merits, I also think that the cartoon was not satire because it fails to properly criticize/lampoon the perspective that it purports to be discrediting. Rather, the images are just portrayed, without any internal critical referencing so necessary for successful satire.
I believe this lack of context and internal referencing is why so many, including me, were so offended.
Thus, I believe the opportunity to appropriately comment on the gross "Nixon-style" polarizing propaganda spewed by the likes of Faux News and others was lost.
But this need not be the final word on the matter. Rather, I have an idea for the New Yorker on the flip that could bail it out of its predicament, and allow the nation to comment on Nixon-style politics, potentially banishing it forever (ha, ha) from the nation's discourse.
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