'Boondocks' Dogged: NY Daily News Pulls Comic Strip

by Karen Juanita Carrillo
SeeingBlack.com Contributing Writer

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The New York Daily News has been refusing to publish an African American comic strip that it deems "too politically hard core" for its readers since the terror attacks of Sept. 11.

The self-styled voice of angry Black youth, "The Boondocks" is a comic strip by Aaron McGruder. It features two main characters, two African American boys, who are the first Black kids in a previously all-white suburb. One of the characters, "Huey Freeman, the radical scholar," spends most of his time questioning perceptions of African Americans and the ways they are treated in the United States.

But now, in the wake of Sept. 11 and the calls for a "united America," the Daily News is contending that Huey's hard-core politics are just not appropriate right now.

"It hasn't been canceled. That's the wrong verb to use," said that newspaper's spokesperson, Ken Frydman. "We've just selectively discontinued it: we'll pull selective strips. We don't believe in heavy-duty politics for the funny pages. When it returns to a milder story line, we'll reinstate it."

On Sept. 24, McGruder began a story line for the comic strip that responded to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. One strip showed Huey composing a letter to California Rep. Barbara Lee, the sole U.S. congressional representative to vote against the joint resolution authorizing Pres. Bush to use military force against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States."

"Dear Congresswoman Lee," Freeman, pictured in front of his computer, writes: "I am writing to express my deep gratitude for your courage in your lone stance against Bush's warmongering. "It is good to know there is one person of conscience in our government. That's one more than I previously believed.

Much respect,

Huey Freeman.

P.S. Tell the rest of those punks in the Congressional Black Caucus that they got a kid-sized steel-toe boot comin' to 'em when I see' em! I'M THROUGH MESSING AROUND!"

Another story line has Freeman phoning the FBI to help out with tips on combating terrorism. In an episode of the strip that appeared in the Daily News on Oct.3, Freeman phones an anonymous tip to the FBI only to be immediately recognized by an agent. "Oh spare me the surprised indignation, Huey," the voice of the FBI tells Freeman: "You know we've been tapping your phone for years. Whatcha got?"

In the following series of strips, Huey confidentially informs the FBI that the "CIA trained Osama bin Laden in using terrorism against the Soviets during the Reagan-Bush administration. They gave the Afghanistan rebels countless amounts of covert funding." He also calls to tell them that Ronald Reagan "helped train and finance Osama bin Laden."

A week later, the Daily News pulled the strip and replaced it with the "Jumble Crosswords" puzzle game by David L. Hoyt. The Dallas Morning News also pulled the strip from its publication.

"I actually didn't know the strip had been pulled in New York until I started getting calls from my editors at UP," the California-based McGruder confessed. Universal Press Syndicate, the syndication company for the comic strip, told McGruder the Daily News wanted to know when he would stop writing about the events of Sept. 11, because they weren't going to publish him until he did.

"My immediate response was that asking me when I'm going to stop talking about the bombing is like asking me when I'm going to stop talking about the world," McGruder said. "I mean this is one of the singular most important events in America, if not for the world. "I try to make it relevant," says McGruder. "So I don't really know when you'll see the strip in the New York Daily News again. It may be a while."

The strip, though, remains available on the Internet at both www.boondocks.net and www.ucomics.com.

On Oct. 11, Universal Press Syndicate issued the following statement about "The Boondocks:" Given the strong emotions that all Americans are feeling after the Sept. 11 attacks, it is not surprising that there is a great deal of sensitivity in our country as citizens, artists and commentators search for ways to express themselves about these events. For this reason, we were not surprised that some of the recent "Boondocks" strips provoked reactions, both positive and negative, among readers. "

"The Boondocks' is a comic strip that has always been distinguished by its willingness to raise tough questions and express dissenting opinions. That freedom of statement is one of the core freedoms of our society, one that is especially important during challenging times like these. It is our job as a newspaper syndicate to distribute content to our client newspapers that represents a wide range of opinion. Our clients then have the right to decide which content they choose to run in their newspapers. Those editorial judgments belong to each individual newspaper.

"Essentially, McGruder said that he's in agreement with that statement. "I haven't been to New York since the bombing so I really can't gauge the mood. [The Daily News] has gotta do what they gotta do and I gotta do what I gotta do. I'm not a New Yorker, I'm not in New York. I was 7,000 miles away when the bombing happened...So it's really not my place to go screaming and yelling about this.

"In the abstract, of course, nothing should be censored, we need to have freedom of speech. Normally things like this would aggravate me but I guess they have a paper to put out and they have to think about what their readers want to read."

Universal Press Syndicate's Kathy Kerr noted that this wasn't the first time a strip of "The Boondocks" was pulled by one of its subscribers. "Because of the controversial content of many of our comic strips such as "Doonesbury" and "The Boondocks," we sometimes have newspapers that will not run strips. In the past, some newspapers have not published "The Boondocks" when he has chosen to cover certain topics.

"Since its launch in 1999, some newspapers have not published certain strips," Kerr added. "It does not occur that often, and it's up to the newspaper."

This past February, when the Dallas Morning News said they would not publish the strip again because it was too political, local Black radio broadcasters started a call-in campaign to that newspaper. Angry callers demanded an explanation for why the Morning News would cease publication of its only African American written comic strip, and particularly why it would choose to do so during Black History Month. By the end the day, the strip had been reinstated.

The Daily News' Frydman points out that since Sept. 11 they have pulled seven individual strips from publication. At one point, a "BC" strip was pulled, two "Soup to Nutz" strips have been pulled, and one other strip that pictured the World Trade Center towers alongside a tag line reading "Wish you were here!" was taken out of the newspaper.

"When any of these strips have made reference to the terrorist attacks, we deem that to be inappropriate," Frydman said. "Again, we just don't believe in heavy-duty politics for the funny pages. So we will look at ("The Boondocks") and if we determine that their heavy-duty politics isn't appropriate, we won't publish it."

-- October 19, 2001

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