By now, most of us have heard about the recent New Yorker magazine cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House, fist pumping in their Muslim and terrorist garb while the American flag burns and a picture of Osama Bin Laden looks on. I grew up in Manhattan, and The New Yorker magazine arrived at our doorstep weekly. I loved the cartoons, and I grew to enjoy reading the essays and stories when I was old enough to appreciate them. And truth be told, I felt a bit smug about my appreciation for this rather elite magazine that only truly appealed to the highly educated and highly literate. Yup, I was a proud member of that liberal elite so disdained by the so-called “red states,” even though the very concept of the liberal elite was created by the conservative elite.

This recent New Yorker cover, however, unveils the seed of truth that generated the disdain for the liberal elite. It’s clever all right. All those stereotypes and lies thrown Obama’s way this past year all artistically executed in one cartoon. The New Yorker so elite it can show the rest of the world their prejudices and fears all in one fell swoop of a cover. But at what cost? For whom was that cover drawn? For the liberal elite to laugh at the silly racism, bigotry, and fear of the less educated masses? To discuss at art openings in Tribeca?

Barack Obama represents a historical tide change that so many people have worked so hard to achieve. The New Yorker subtly diminished that achievement, leaving us to ponder why we don’t want to continue the effort to break down persistent forms of bigotry, rather than reinforce them.

~ Zoe