If alt-right conservative groups and white nationalists have mastered anything, it is the narrative of victimization. Niche news outlets have slanted their coverage to capitalize on this fixation while ultra-conservative political commentators built entire careers on it. During his presidential campaign run, Donald Trump pandered to the paranoia of this demographic, referring to them as "the forgotten man.”  Despite the fact that by every measure, be it affluence, leadership, political power or wealth, the positioning of white men at the pinnacle of the social order remains secure, the reality of globalism, shifting racial demographics, and a twice-elected African-American President, was enough to whip this irrational paranoia into a frenzy. 

The most recent demonstration of this obsession with oppression comes in the form of a political cartoon, created by News-Democrat editorial cartoonist Glenn McCoy. The cartoon is a spoof of the iconic 1964 Norman Rockwell painting, “The Problem We All Live With,” which depicts a six-year-old Ruby Bridges on her way to integrate an all-white public school at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in New Orleans. The backlash started on BND's website but has picked up momentum across social media platforms.

Betsy DeVos, a billionaire heiress who bought her way into a powerful position for which she is not qualified, is being compared to Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old black girl who had to be escorted to school by four deputy U.S. marshals because of threats and violence against her. The word ‘N**ger’ in the original painting is replaced with the word “Conservative” in the later.

Is the cartoon wildly offensive? Of course. Is the comparison between the harassment of a child during integration to the backlash of an unqualified bureaucrat severely problematic? Absolutely. Am I shocked? Absolutely not. This cartoon is no more or less absurd than Donald Trump’s positioning as the champion for the “little guy,” or the argument of #BlackLivesMatter vs. #AllLivesMatter, or #BlueLivesMatter, for that matter. It is just another manipulative attempt to hijack our struggle and spin it to further perpetuate white privilege. Nothing to see here folks, just business as usual.

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alt-rightBetsy Devospolitical cartoonsRuby-Bridges