Tuesday, February 24, 2009

John Legend's Letter to the NY Post


Please...no jokes about the Queen.

Here's what JL had to say to the Rupert Murdoch's of the world:

Open Letter to the New York Post



Dear Editor:

I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for
publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went
crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was
responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the
intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot
to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this
suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the
deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving
death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have
historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and
mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the
cartoon?

If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant
of you not to connect these easily connectible dots. If it is what you intended,
then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the
sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have
printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I
can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read
your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for
dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack
Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being
blatantly racist and offensive.

I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you
want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences.
You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some
real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't
do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my
colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your
advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as
well.

You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was
ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed.

I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I
truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our
difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York
Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and
put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly
evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and
rhetoric.



Sincerely,



John Legend


Here Here.

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