To say I am disappointed in Brent Brown’s March 6 cartoon hardly covers my sentiment. I think it is extremely disturbing that the KKK is referenced in a comic strip as though that organization's history is in any way amusing.
I am disturbed that the comic artist felt the strip was funny, and I am appalled that supervisors and editors supported the strip or, at the very least, were so oblivious to it passed through to print. Given the history of horrific treatment of African-Americans in the United States, I should think we would have the decency to honor Black History Month rather than make light of one of the most disgraceful period's in our nation's history.
The specific aspects of the strip that I find deeply unsettling include the "sigh" in response to seeing the "KKK" sign, the look of fear on the faces of the black bystanders, the apathy on the faces of the white employees and the comment that the return of the KKK is a natural followup to Black History Month.
None of these things should be funny, and the combination of them all into a sequence like this one propagates racial discrimination in a way that I hope our community will not tolerate in the future.
Please apologize to the community in your next issue.
— Susan Bean
Asheville
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