John Christian Hopkins: Paper apologizes for racist cartoon

Well, at least the Boston Herald had the decency to apologize for a blatantly racist cartoon involving President Barack Obama.
The cartoon is supposed to be a comment on the recent White House intruder—but one key word changed everything.
 That word was watermelon.
 The “intruder” is sitting in the tub as Obama is brushing his teeth and asks the president if he’s tried the watermelon-flavored toothpaste.


I’m sure some may think that the president is Irish—a wee laddie named Barack O’Bama—but you’d be wrong. It turns out that Obama is black. Who knew, right? 
Some want to blame the cartoonist for this racial fiasco; however the artist Jerry Holbert—who apparently has just arrived from Pluto—claims he never heard of the stereotype about blacks and watermelon.
 Holbert said he got the watermelon idea from his kid’s toothpaste tube. Completely innocent; and it sounded better than the original line: “Got any fried chicken?”


In the spirit of full disclosure, let me admit that I actually use Colgate’s watermelon-flavored toothpaste. But I’m not black, so it’d be like askIng me—an American Indian—If I use frybread flavor.


Is it reasonable that Holbert had never heard of this rather broad stereotype? How about every other editor at the Herald?