To the Editor:
Charles Pinck’s response to my noticing the sexism and anti-Semitism in his cartoon “The Shunning” is tone-deaf. He appears to be entirely ignorant of what anti-Semitic tropes/stereotypes are, and how they have been used for centuries in political cartoons to promote Jew hatred.
Mr. Pinck’s admission that his cartoon is a parody of the original Stanley Kubrick film poster, “The Shining,” only serves to further the point of how anti-Semitic his Alan Dershowitz cartoon is. The link below explains how conspiracy theorists — the ones who believe in Jewish lasers and blame Soros, Jewish cabals, and the Rothschilds for running the world — love this classic Kubrick film. It is a film white nationalists love. I’m guessing Mr. Pinck is as unaware of this fact as he is that he has used anti-Semitic tropes to belittle Alan Dershowitz. “The Shining” is a film viewed as anti-Semitic by many, even though Kubrick himself is Jewish. There are many articles written about this. Here is one: bit.ly/JT_Anti-Semitism_Shining.
I will not be apologizing for noticing the anti-Semitic portrayal Mr. Pinck used in his cartoon depiction of Alan Dershowitz menacing the library director.
The ongoing, long story obviously caused hurt to people directly involved in the drama. No one should take glee in any of it, as Mr. Pinck repeatedly does in cartoon after cartoon. Mr. Pinck’s use of anti-Semitic stereotyping, and now his denial of it, even though he has been provided with several ways to educate himself on the matter, is a sad lack of understanding of what is obviously present in his latest cartoon. I wish I could unsee it, but I cannot, just I cannot be quiet about what is so blatant.
There is nothing clever about his cartoon, although it is clear that not everyone understands why it is not OK. I hope people will take the time to read the links provided earlier, as well as the one in this letter. When we educate ourselves about our ingrained, unexamined biases, we can begin to understand the damage done by not recognizing what we may be putting out into the world.
Jackie Mendez-Diez
New York City, formerly Chilmark
