The local chapter of the NAACP was among civil rights group hold actions in over 70 cities to protest at Fox and Fox Affiliate networks. The Chattanooga Hamilton County NAACP in partnership with the Bradley County NAACP and McMinn County NAACP protested at WDSI-TV at 1101 East Main Street.
"It's an invitation to the assassination of the 44th president," says Valoria Armstrong of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Branch of the NAACP, speaking about the New York Post cartoon that she said has sparked outrage around the country.
The nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization is asking that the Fox Corporation terminate the cartoonist, the editor-in-chief and increase diversity in the news room.
The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Branch of the NAACP joined by both the McMinn and Bradley County NAACP Branches has delivered a letter to WDSI-TV, the local Fox television affiliate, asking the general manager to write a letter to Fox Corporation owner Rupert Murdoch supporting their demands. The group said Mr. Murdoch's apology on Tuesday, in which he said his paper would endeavor to be more sensitive to the community, is welcomed as a first step but is cited as inadequate by civil rights organizations for not offering any concrete measures to do so.
The group said, "President Abraham Lincoln said it is the silence of good men (and women) that allows evil to flourish. We are calling on our local Fox affiliate general manager to join us in expressing opposition to the hate speech of the New York Post, which is owned by their parent company. We ask WDSI-TV to be good corporate citizens and go on record against this abhorrent display of overt racism "
The cartoon, which showed police shooting an ape with a caption saying "I guess they'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill", was juxtaposed against a photo of President Obama signing the stimulus package. Both Fox News and the New York Post have come under criticism for the cartoon.
"There is a pattern of lack of diversity in the newsroom and racial insensitivity in the news at Fox News and the New York Post," said Valoria Armstrong, local president. "Likening our African American president to a monkey is unacceptable. African Americans have for too long been called primates as a way of dehumanizing an entire race of people. It's time for this pattern at Fox news to stop."