Looking at the response to the Sean Delonas Racist Chimp cartoon, I was reminded of a similar experience I had with the cartoon below. I drew this one years ago when Condi Rice took over as Secretary of State from Colin Powell. I liked Powell and didn't much like Condi, so I did an unflattering "big shoes to fill" cartoon - a cartoon standard when a crummy new guy takes over a job.
As soon as the cartoon went out I was hit with responses that the cartoon was racist because "loose shoes" is a racial epithet against blacks. Sean Hannity showed the cartoon on Hannity & Colmes every day for a week as he was "proving" that the mainstream media was racist in their attacks on Condi Rice.
Be sure to add "loose shoes" to the check-list of racist-metaphors-you-might-not-think-of to avoid in the Obama years. I'm sure we'll flush out lots more obscure racist metaphors in cartoons in the coming months.
