To the Editor:
I wrote yesterday's Bear Bones cartoon as a response to the letter from Frank Aum '97 in Monday's issue of The Dartmouth. The cartoon was intended to show that stereotypes will always exist no matter what they are, or however fallacious. In no way did I intend the cartoon to come off as bigoted, racist or insensitive.
I have always consciously used stereotypes for all my characters to show how ridiculous the stereotypes themselves are. Frank Aum made some important points in his letter about my Asian characters, and I understand where he was coming from. I drew the cartoon as a response to that. In the cartoon, Lee Kim is offended by his role as a stereotyped Asian, and, in response, strips himself of everything that is stereotypical about his appearance. And yet there will still always be another stereotype waiting, no matter what one does -- even when he is stark naked.
I am Jewish and there are plenty of stereotypes that come with being a Jew, but I know that they are nothing more than ignorant assumptions. If people believe what they read in Bear Bones literally, then they are getting nothing out of it. I'd like to think that I am questioning some of Dartmouth's stereotypes by showing their stupidity. One might argue that I am only furthering these stereotypes, but in yesterday's cartoon I was trying to condemn those very stereotypes, ridiculing them by choosing an even more outlandish, and even crude, one.
I had no intention of offending anyone, Asian or otherwise. I realized that some people might not see where I was coming from or the point I was trying to illustrate, but that is a chance you take when you express yourself through a medium like cartoons. Clearly my cartoon was far too ambiguous, as its intended message failed to get across to many of the Dartmouth's readers. I will try to illustrate my points more clearly in the future.
I realize from the large response that a great many people have misunderstood the cartoon's intentions and were seriously offended, and for this I sincerely apologize.
