Hard to believe, but this Dennis The Menace strip ran in 1970
September 24, 2008
According to this source, the Cleveland Press printed this apology the next day:
Yesterday’s DENNIS THE MENACE cartoon offended a number of Press readers. The Press apologizes for the affront caused by the cartoonist. It assures subscribers that such a thing will not happen again.
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This one begs for a Sportsman comment, but not from me.
How is this racist? The mere mention of race is racist?
Sad thing is, Hank probably never met a black person in his entire life…
RWW I really hope you’re kidding around and not that stupid.
RWW — It isn’t about the word ‘race’ — look at the kid — /that/ is what is so bad, in conjunction with the text.
If you can’t see why a pickaninny is racist, I suggest you read a little more into the common stereotypes of black people in 19th and 20th century America.
im black and i think its racist cuz my lips do not look like that…do they?
but seriously why cant he just have normal lips then it would be funnier
RWW, how are you able to communicate with us from 1924? Did you stumble across some alien device?
Vanity….nothing but vanity
I do believe that cartoon to be very racist.
The cartoonist is trying to imply that the black race is superior to the white race in athletics.
We all know that the human race is equal.
Plus, did you see how the cartoonist depicted those white people?
OMG! He drew them with pointy noses and tall heads!
This man should be bought to justice!
Oh my god, I’m white and I don’t have freckles!! That’s fucking racist!!!!
Get a grip, some of you, and use your brains to read the meaning of the cartoon instead of picking apart every detail of how he drew the characters. I haven’t seen too many dogs or white kids on the street that look exactly like those either.
It’s a CARTOON! and the meaning is clearly anti-racist, it means that Dennis doesn’t care about his friend’s color and nor should you. Try coloring in the black kid’s lips and he doesn’t look quite so nice and friendly. Have you stopped to think that the cartoonist just wanted to make him appear like a normal, smiling cartoon kid who just happens to be black?
Seriously!
It’s a cartoon yes, but it’s awfully hard to avoid historical comparisons. A character who is jet black with white lips and googly eyes immediately brings to mind the image proliferated by Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, etc. Granted, Hank didn’t draw the kid with white gloves, tap shoes and a bow tie but shit, all he had to do was take a quick look at other cartoons like Peanuts and realize that shading even in a pen drawing is not impossible. I think Hank was genuinely trying to show how open minded he was but his lack of drawing ability and ingrained images from his youth got in the way. Sort of a Ross Perot fail.
Jack: Of all the races, African Americans tend to have the longest Achilles tendons. A long Achilles tendon allows for more leverage when running. African-Americans are genetically capable of running faster than their short Achilles tendon brothers.
I, like Stephen Colbert, do not see skin tones…. what’s the problem here?
the joke from the old day is when white people assumed that black people can’t run faster than them. It is irony of the reality.
I can’t believe people are up in arms about this. People who say “I don’t see skin colour” or “I only see the person inside” are laughable.
The best thing that ever happened to black people was the takeover of the “n word”. I grew up in a town where it was ok for me to be called a honkey. But the second I reciprocated, I was the racist one.
People are far to sensitive and need to pull their heads out of their asses. Comic strips’ images of spanish, or latinos always gives them an image of lower working class humans. But they don’t care. They’re glad they’re not in their home country working for less money. Jsut as African Americans should love to be in the land of the free and not back in Africa with the lack of health profiessionals, the knowledge of cures and better treatments, and the lack of food.
What’s the Problem?? I think it’s cute. Love the black-face!!
You idiots missed Ketcham’s intent.
You are viewing the strip in the year 2008.
It was published in 1970.
Times were different.
Learn some history, before condemning Ketcham.
Ketcham was making a statement. HE WAS MAKING A STATEMENT THAT RACISM WAS WRONG! That for children, racial divisions do not exist.
The image of the Black Kid was exaggerated to make a point, to challenge the strip’s readers to think about and confront stereotypes. Dennis’s statement is that of an innocent Child.
Sadly, you all missed the strip’s true intent. . Morons.
If you people are offended by this then you need some serious counseling. Get a eff-ing sense of humor. I would never want to hang out you people.. or the lame ass poster for that matter.
I’m not offended by this at all! Little Sambo boys do look like that. Its no different from drawing the Asians with slanty eyes, or Indians with a jug of fire-water. Are we really supposed to sacrifice accuracy in order to satisfy the homosexuals at the ACLU? And before anyone accuses me of racism (typical liberal defense), you should know I always remember to tip my shoeshine boys.
Also we need to remember this was drawn in the 1970s, when everybody was cool with racism, and it wasn’t a controversial topic.
what kind of retard cant shine his own shoes?
I think the point being missed is that Hank Ketcham couldn’t draw for shit and that Dennis the Menace was routinely about as funny as an earache. Loved by many mediocre Americans, but lame nonetheless. Him and Bill Keane, et. al.
Just because the black kid is drawn stereotypically doesn’t make it racist. The artist was clearly using the word RACE as a double-entendre. He sets people up to think that Dennis is saying he has a problem with Jackson’s race, and then defuses the situation by explaining he meant a foot-race. Children make comments like that all the time. Besides, one could claim the artist is racist for drawing a little white kid so stereotypically. The strip is clearly not racist, only people’s interpretations.
The joke & punchline Dennis delivers isn’t racist. It’s the manner Hank illustrated the black kid. I’m sure it wasn’t Hank’s intent to draw the kid in a degrading manner; It’s kind of like my grandma who refers to black people as “coloreds”. I know she doesn’t mean anything bad by it - she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, but the general consensus is “colored” is not the best way to refer to African-Americans. That’s the term that was used when she was growing up.
I digress - Hank should have known better than to illustrate the kid. I’m also an artist / cartoonist / illustrator and before I even read the caption or what this post was all about I was immediately shocked that I was looking at was a real Dennis the Menace cartoon. He might was well had the kid singing about how Mammy’s little baby loves shortnin’ bread. (look it up). Being a white, successful male artist in 1970 on a deadline for publication, I’m sure he gave it very little thought. He kicked the artwork out and got busy on the next day’s cartoon. His cartoon needed a black kid so he drew him in a style that let him get it done as fast as he could. Not too bright.
The drawing is pretty racist. I can think of a million and one ways to draw the kid, have it fit the cartoon and not be so offensive.
Actually, it doesn’t surprise me to see this in a Dennis the Menace cartoon. It’s never been smart, insightful, entertaining or even funny. So if its never had the elements of what a daily cartoon should have, what does that leave? Bad judgment calls from the creator when he tries to do something ‘unique’.
IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZAH
I thought the dog’s name was Ruff, not Jackson.
As an aside; Dennis the Menace in the UK has black curly hair and looks totally different from the US version of the character who is blonde haired and I bet blue-eyed. His dog was called Gnasher.
The UK version probably wouldn’t have gone down well over here.
Well, at least he didn’t insult an entire race by calling the boy articulate. Oh, my God, I used the word boy.
Somewhere along the way we are all going to have to learn to be adults, no matter how black or white or thin your skin is.
I can’t believe so much people took this small comic strip so seriously.
I time is different and Hank was oblivious. Okay? So just leave Hank Ketcham alone.