Sunday, April 27, 2008
Response to charges of sexism in my cartoon work
On April 23, 2008, an anonymous posting on a N.H. blog accused me of posting sexist cartoons on this website:
"It is hard to accept criticism of our community's decision from a sexist man who posted as "art" cartoon images that degrade women. Suspiciously, those images have been removed from your web site. Why is that, Mr. Sanfacon? Are you no longer proud of your art or are you in this discussion about race just to win so you needed to clean up your act? I find your art disgusting but I am grateful for your right to post it." |
The blogger was attempting to draw a distinction between my protesting the official policy of using racial stereotypes by the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative School Board and my cartoons, none of which have been removed from my site. The blogger defended the school district's continued acceptance of racism at the high school while denying that the policy was racist, despite the numerous quotes from national American Indian and civil rights organizations and scholars that I provided in my own posts. Among them the National Congress of American Indians, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Dr. Cornel Pewewardy (Kiowa/Comanche).
If American Indian people call it racism, SO DO I.
As far as my artwork is concerned, I'll continue to produce whatever art I choose. If someone finds my art objectionable, they can simply not visit my website. Children at WLC High School can't simply avoid attending the school if they object to what they are subjected to there. Institutional racism in America in 2008 is indefensible.