Statement from the Editor-in-Chief, Chris Dore
Johannes Leak’s commentary prompted an intense reaction, including ridiculous accusations the cartoon was motivated by racism or was intended to promote racism.
The words “little black and brown girls” belong to Joe Biden, not Johannes, and were uttered by the presidential candidate when he named Kamala Harris as his running mate on Thursday; he repeated them in a tweet soon after.
As many commentators in the US have noted, Biden is accused of using racial identity as a political weapon, and that is exactly the point Johannes was making in the cartoon, using Biden’s language.
The intention of Johannes’s commentary was to ridicule identity politics and demean racism, not perpetuate it.
The Australian deplores racism in all its guises, as does Johannes.