Canadian Obama cartoon used to spread hatred online

Altered copies are promoting racism. A Halifax newspaper's editorial cartoon showing Barack Obama on the lawn of the White House thinking, "Well, first off, that [White House] sign's gonna have to go" has been hijacked on the Internet to make a racial slur against the U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful.

Other altered copies of the cartoon depict Obama with the symbol of Islam or with the slogan of a fictitious group promising "Jihad with a law degree."

Bruce MacKinnon, the cartoonist for the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, says he drew the cartoon intending it to show the potential end of white-male dominance of the highest political office in the U.S.

Now he says he's concerned about the way it's being used to promote hatred on the Internet, where the altered copies are circulating widely.

"I hope this clears the air a bit, but I think I could spend the rest of the year clearing the air," he said.

Nobody from Obama's camp has been in contact with the multiple National Newspaper Award-winning cartoonist or the Chronicle-Herald.

MacKinnon hopes the controversy will die down, but acknowledges it's difficult to protect his work once it's on the Internet.

Chronicle-Herald editor Jim Meek said the paper's not interested in pursuing legal action against anyone who's used an altered version of the cartoon.

"How would you do that? Who would you go after?" he said, adding that many newspapers and media outlets don't have the financial strength to pursue cross-border lawsuits to protect their intellectual property rights.

Meek called the hijacked versions of the cartoon outrageous.

"It was a really whimsical cartoon meant to show something good in a very lighthearted way," Meek said. "It's very troubling to see it changed to become racist."

The cartoon even made its way to a political button sold at last month's Texas state Republican convention. The button read: "If Obama is president . . . will we still call it the White House?"

Republican officials have condemned the buttons and informed the vendor he's not welcome at future Republican events.

When the cartoon first appeared in Canada, it raised barely a ripple of concern, MacKinnon said, adding that he believes most people took it the way it was originally intended.

He told the Chronicle-Herald he intended the original to play on the words White House, which he described as a metaphor for white-male domination of the Oval Office.

Canwest News Service

Published: Sunday, July 06, 2008