The Drawing Board: Oct. 29
October 29, 2012
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4 Responses to “The Drawing Board: Oct. 29”
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I honestly am not sure what point this cartoon is attempting to make. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears it is trying to trivialize Northwestern's ongoing diversity conversation in relation to the violence that plagues Chicago, a "bigger problem" that we should all be concerned about instead of our tiny little Northwestern bubble. However, in doing so, it excruciatingly makes light of both.
I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and I'm insulted by the portrayal of Chicago violence shown here. Though a significant percentage of the shootings are gang-related, not all of them are. It's a poor representation of a much greater problem. I'm not sure if the artist attempted to construe the violence in Chicago as racially tinged, but it would appear so based on the juxtaposition here. He/she could have just as easily drawn the war in Iraq in order to represent something bigger. Sadly, the violence in my city doesn't always see color, it's people killing people and that's the ugly truth.
In trying to make a point about something larger than what we face here, the Daily instead draws blurry lines of association and misrepresents an issue that runs much deeper than what you see on TV, or in this case an ill-advised editorial cartoon. Though they might only appear as statistics on screens to you, the shootings are very real and very frightening to countless Chicagoans, myself included. Next time you want to prove a point, think about what else you might be dragging into the conversation.
At the same time, this is a huge part of what's wrong with the diversity dialogue at Northwestern. Everyone wants to act like there are larger things going on, or that it's something that can be swept under the table or that we need to put it in perspective. But in my mind, the cartoon also directly conflicts with the editorial the Daily ran earlier today.
You want a "new conversation on race?" You argue the problem is "rooted in student culture?" Then don't perpetuate it by giving people something to chew on and continue skirting the matter that hangs over all of our heads these days. Racial insensitivity is real, it's palpable and it's here at Northwestern. If you're going to downplay it, don't do it at the expense of another enormous issue that you appear to know nothing about.
Jeremy Woo
Medill '15
[Reply]
What he said, 1000x's
[Reply]
This is another example of how the esteemed staff of The Daily Northwestern comments on things they know nothing about without doing the necessary research.
The guy above me said it best. I don't have the necessary experience, nor have I done enough research, to comment on the state of affairs in Chicago. Clearly, neither does Mr. Maxwell.
[Reply]
MissingThePoint.jpg
Both of the panels in this cartoon are part of the same larger, systemic problem. While I don't know enough about gang violence on the south side of Chicago to comment on it, it seems to me that both the poverty and violence that people of color face on a disproportionate level and the microaggressions that they encounter even on "liberal" campuses like ours stem from the same history of oppression and marginalization.
If you really think it's silly of us to worry about things like racist Halloween costumes rather than shootings on the South Side, by all means, go do something about the latter. I just don't see that happening, either.
[Reply]