Nelson Otto
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
When I saw the Letters to the Editor complaining about Jim Dyke’s “racist” cartoon on Aug. 2 and wondered “what on earth did I miss.” So I dug through the recycle bin till I found it. I looked at it and thought “That’s it?!” Perhaps political cartoons are like things of beauty, the message is in the eye of the beholder. From my perspective it wasn’t about race at all, it was about the failed leftist social and economic policies that destroyed a vibrant community and put it on the path to ruin. If anyone was racist it was those in government that created the urban development policies that forced poor blacks and whites to live in filth and squalor. From the video postings of the mayor’s tour through the city I would have to agree with Mr. Dyke’s assessment. Actually the mayor of Baltimore seemed to agree with Mr. Dyke’s assessment. In one video she says “we should tear this s*** down, who needs the smell of rats.” Another video shows rats running around during the day and other videos show people holding up dead rats as they struggle to deal with the situation. As almost always, Americans are willing to help and many from outside of Baltimore have come to lend a hand and help clean up the city. These people are willing to help despite being called patronizing in one of the Baltimore newspapers.
So Mr. Dyke, your cartoon was right on target. Keep up the good work.