This cartoon by Dave Brown in The Independent relates to the row which has erupted in the US following an incident during President Obama’s key speech on healthcare reform in Congress last week when Joe Wilson, a congressman from South Carolina, shouted “You lie!” after Obama said illegal immigrants would not benefit from his healthcare plans. Although Wilson has since apologised for his outburst, some commentators and bloggers have claimed that Wilson’s heckle is evidence of underlying racism.

Yesterday, ex-President Jimmy Carter weighed into the debate, when he said that much of the vitriol against President Barack Obama’s health reforms and spending plans was “based on racism”.

The cartoon shows Obama and Carter walking in the gardens outside the Capitol, the meeting place of the US Congress. The Capitol building is covered with a menacing Ku Klux Klan hood—a symbol of racism and white supremacy.

FOOTNOTE

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), informally known as The Klan, is the name of several past and present hate group organizations in the United States whose avowed purpose was to protect the rights of and further the interests of white Americans by violence and intimidation. Read more >>

Source: Jeffrey Hill