The Herald Sun Published This Cartoon And People Think It’s Just A Little Racist
"It’s pretty wild that a major Australian paper will run a cartoon that wouldn’t be out of place in a 19th century periodical."
A cartoon from Friday’s edition of Melbourne’s Herald Sun featuring caricatured, rioting African teens has been branded as racist.
Here’s the cartoon, drawn by award-winning cartoonist Mark Knight:
The cartoon pictures Victorian Labor MP Jacinta Allan standing on a train station. Behind her, African teens are fighting and causing destruction.
The cartoon is captioned “minister Jacinta Allan takes decisive action to keep the Victorian public safe… and bans Sky News on city stations.”
Allan was under fire this week after she announced that she would stop Sky News from broadcasting in Victorian train stations. She made the move after Sky presenter Adam Giles held an interview with far right ringleader Blair Cottrell.
I’ve directed @MetroTrains to remove @skynewsaustralia from all CBD station screens. Hatred and racism have no place on our screens or in our community. #springst
— Jacinta Allan (@JacintaAllanMP) August 8, 2018
Most didn’t have an issue with Knight criticising Allan — but they did think he went too far with his representation of African teens in the cartoon’s background.
“The racist vilification of Melburnians from the Herald Sun continues apace. Utterly shameful. STOP,” wrote Greens Melbourne City councillor Rohan Leppert on Twitter.
Others piled on:
the lowest of the low. This reminds me of the cartoon drawn of Jews pre ww2. @theheraldsun #auspol pic.twitter.com/cTAtZ5d8b5
— Noon Chai (@noon_chai) August 10, 2018
It’s pretty wild that a major Australian paper will run a cartoon that wouldn’t be out of place in a 19th century periodical
— belgian ed butler (@macaulaybalkan) August 10, 2018
This cartoon is disgusting, unsophisticated and makes me ashamed to live in Australia. @theheraldsun Seriously? pic.twitter.com/uIABerKYu1
— Henrietta Cook (@henriettacook) August 10, 2018
In his long editorial cartoonist career, Knight hasn’t been a stranger to controversy. Way back in 1999, he published this cartoon:
At the time, female politicians labelled the cartoon of senator Meg Lees (who was then leader of the Australian Democrats party) as sexist.
While Knight usually publishes his daily cartoons on his official Facebook and Twitter accounts, the Victoria train station cartoon was not on either account.