Reject Corner!!!...Not
Just when I think I've seen everything in 27 years of dealing with editors at this paper, I am freshly astounded.
In response to the story about Alabama's newly-enacted anti-illegal immigrant law, which is even more draconian than Arizona's, I submitted the above cartoon as a sketch to my opinion page editor, Antonio Fins. Tony responded by saying, "It seems flat. What about something having to do with a New Yorker and his accent?" Naturally, I bridled at this, since it wasn't my idea. Working at cross-purposes with my initial response was that I respect Tony as a second set of eyes (this is what editors are for). I always understand my work because I'm the one who thought it up. If it doesn't hit home with him, it could mean that it is, in fact, less than effective.
I sent him an explanation, which was that Alabamans are known for having one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, and I wanted to turn the tables on them so that our readers could better understand how visual profiling, as a technique, is bigoted and hurtful.
Simultaneously, I began warming to Tony's New York idea, since it was lighter and our transplanted readers might appreciate it more. I did a riff on it and sent in the sketch below, saying that I preferred it to the earlier one:
Meanwhile, Tony had bought my explanation of the first cartoon, and decided he liked it more than the version based on his own suggestion. We then entered into a kind of editorial Twilight Zone, in which my editor began selling me on my own idea. "It's a fresh, creative take on the subject," he said.
He won the argument. I'm sure we will never speak of this again.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
Just love your humor, always hits the spot for me, love both versions. Having lived as a foreigner in New York for a long time, that version was particular funny! Sigi
Posted by: Sigi Eurich | June 10, 2011 6:47 PM
I think there should be open borders,free tuition for undocumented aliens and no immigration verification to work.NOT! This is the deranged mind set of the far left which is destroying this country. Isn't the drawing of the cop as fat; stereotyping? Tell AF that all the states that serve genuine BBQ have weight problems.
Posted by: jimbo53 | June 11, 2011 10:55 PM
there is a deeper meaning in the corpulence cartoon too; namely that there is an element of greed / unbridled acquisitiveness when resentment of immigrants surfaces;
Now without necessarily upsetting all the 'glandular' larger folk, it's quite obvious that more self-control would lead to less obesity as a general rule, while the kind of rabid anti-immigrant sentiment that leads to the Arizona/Alabama laws, causing inconvenience/unpleasantness for legal immigrants, for 'forgivable' cases, etcetera, even for citizens who look different, does seem rather typical of a greedy mindset.
Posted by: Mark | June 12, 2011 12:04 PM
Both hilarious! I am Belgian. You could replace the two guys from the second cartoon by a Walloon ( a French speaking Belgian) and a Flemish. Belgium is on the brink of dislocation...
Posted by: Phil | June 15, 2011 12:53 PM
Jimbo: Please show me some documentation where any of that applies to the far left. It doesn't. People across all parties and backgrounds realize that the illegal immigration issue must be solved, once and for all. And everyone gets that free services for illegals doesn't work, especially when we have out current problems financing the system.
Posted by: Better Next time | June 15, 2011 1:47 PM