Dear Editor,
I refer to the Paul Harris business cartoon a few days ago, entitled `Melly Clismas’ which takes a shot at one of our national communities. The cartoon shows a large-sized Chinese looking figure with outstretched arms loaded with wads of currency notes gleefully proclaiming “Melly Clistmas” with hordes of Guyanese shoppers represented by smaller figures almost at the feet of the larger figure.
In my opinion, the cartoon reinforces the stereotype of the shrewd Chinese businessman exploiting hapless natives. But much more odiously it can also be interpreted as a blatant racist disparagement, poking fun at this particular community which as we all know has a difficulty with the “r” sound in the English Language.
The irony of this cartoon and a pretty nasty one at that is that the title in its own distorted way refers to the Christmas season, which for many is a season of love and goodwill. Greater still is the irony since we have so much to be grateful for to this particular group.
Coming from one of Guyana’s best journalists, this is an unfortunate misstep, but I will not be surprised if this cartoon is defended in the name of free speech.
Yours faithfully,
Swami Aksharananda
