The notorious New York Post cartoon is disgusting on many levels–and most of them have already been hashed out by bloggers, credible reporters, and entertainers. However, I think it is important to note this about the cartoon:

1. The historical association between primates and African Americans is more than just an ancient idea: Research has confirmed (and clearly, this carton demonstrates) that the association continues today. This dehumanization makes it easier to accept violence against people of African descent. We need to address that.

2. Black men are not chimpanzees, neither are they inherently criminal. The use of police officers shooting a chimp appealed to another latent bias in American society–the association of Black men as criminal. Why didn’t the cartoon depict a chimp behind a desk with a random assassin aiming at him? The image of the chimp (stand-in for the President, who is of African descent) as a criminal made his killing more palatable. We need to correct the implicit bias against people of African descent as criminal. Guess what? Most of us are law abiding, thoughtful and totally outraged by this bad joke.

Oh, we have so much work to do…

Copyright 2009 Monique W. Morris

Last night, the NAACP celebrated 100 years of advocating for social justice and the 40th Anniversary of the Image Awards. The Image Awards was a fantastic festive event, filled with pioneers, advocates, activists, artists, and people interested in honoring the legacy of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. I was honored to sit between the regal Attallah Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X, and the beautiful and talented songwriter Saida Garrett—giving me an opportunity to humbly reflect on the gravity of the moment. For more than 100 years, people of African descent have raised their collective and individual voices to sing more than a blues of injustice–and the NAACP has been at the center of this movement. We have fought in the trenches and plowed our way through the mire of discrimination to emerge an increasingly proud people ready to raise the bar. Say it loud!

To help frame this next part of our journey, the NAACP released a white paper describing our priorities for the first year of the Administration and the first year of the next 100 years toward a goal of racial justice. Today, the New York Times reported on the report. Check it out here.