Editor,
On Friday, the Daily Lobo published a cartoon in the Opinion section that I felt was disgraceful.
Let me first say that I am from New Orleans and have been at UNM for three years now. In seeing this publication, I was highly disturbed. The cartoon depicted the French Quarter flooded with African-Americans lined up behind a band.
When an individual who is not from Louisiana sees this image, it may remind them of the Titanic when the band is on a sinking ship playing their last song together before they die.
To natives, this is a second line. We do this at funerals and at Mardi Gras, a celebration of death and new life. Every individual in this strip was African-American - did you not find that strange, or notice how these characters were drawn?
This cartoon was disgraceful, and I suggest the next time you want to express your political views, do your jobs as journalists and find out what these comic strips may mean to others, and look outside of the box to understand why this was disrespectful to my culture.
In the last two weeks, I have gotten calls from friends who no longer have homes or living family members. Louisiana is my family, and to those who believe this incident does not concern you, keep your opinions to yourself. You will never know how hard it was to leave family members behind who could not continue the journey to evacuate. Who knows if my friends will be able to bury their parents, aunts and cousins.
Once the city is drained, mass graves will be made for the deceased. We are not refugees or victims of the war in Iraq. How would you feel if you were not able to go home and bury your own?
Antoinette Murphy
UNM student
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