The Albuquerque Journal came under fire on Twitter Thursday after it ran a cartoon conflating recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Democrats, and MS-13 gang members.
The cartoon pictures a frightened white couple being robbed at gunpoint by men wearing “MS-13” jackets.
“Now, Honey … I believe they prefer to be called Dreamers … or Democrats,” the well-dressed man says to his wife in the cartoon.
Wow. This insanely racist cartoon ran today in the @ABQJournal, my hometown newspaper and the first place I ever worked. The paper has always had a conservative editorial board, but this is next-level. pic.twitter.com/QY60tBD1bQ
— Kate Linthicum (@katelinthicum) February 8, 2018
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., blasted the conservative publication on Twitter Wednesday, calling the depiction of Dreamers “heinous and bigoted.”
Shame on the @ABQJournal for stooping to a new low and publishing a heinous and bigoted depiction of Dreamers in today’s paper that serves only to sow division in our community.
— Martin Heinrich (@MartinHeinrich) February 7, 2018
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., followed suit, condemning the outlet for the “hateful and offensive” cartoon.
Words and images are still hateful and offensive, even when they appear in a cartoon. The @ABQJournal should apologize.
— Tom Udall (@SenatorTomUdall) February 8, 2018
“Our editorial pages offer views from all sides of the spectrum, and we realize some of the content will offend readers,” Journal Editor Karen Moses said in statement issued late Wednesday night. “We do not agree with many of those views, but their purpose is to spark discussion and debate. In hindsight, instead of generating debate, this cartoon only inflamed emotions. This was not the intent, nor does the Journal condone racism or bigotry in any form.”
