WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Controversial cartoon from WA pokes fun at SC

Controversial cartoon from WA pokes fun at SC

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A cartoonist from Washington state has released a cartoon about South Carolina, depicting its workers as lazy, incompetent, redneck and racist. The controversial cartoon is in response to South Carolina winning the contract for Boeing's second 787 assembly line.

The drawing is done by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist David Horsey, who is known for his controversial drawings. The cartoon was featured on the website for the Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper.

"I'm offended because that is not what our workers are like here," said Charleston resident Tanika Reaves. "I work here and that is not the environment that we have here."

In addition to a lazy environment featured in the cartoon, the plane has an outhouse door. The drawing also features a noose and the Confederate flag, a symbol Charleston residents say is outdated and demeaning. 

Boeing is based in Seattle, and while workers there are angry over losing the Boeing bid, some say the drawing goes too far.

Some residents on the west coast have commented about the cartoon being distasteful. One comment from a reader of the Post Intelligencer said, "I understand people are hurt and betrayed by Boeing's disloyalty to the region, but this was really a cheap shot."

Steve Stegelin, a cartoonist for the Charleston City Paper, says cartoonists have to get their point across in a small amount of space. He said he thought the ideas used in the cartoon were out of touch with South Carolina, especially after all the political scandal that has hit the state in the past year.

"I was a little surprised they went in this direction for South Carolina," said Steglin. "With the humor our state has provided in the last year as fodder, to go with the redneck stereotype was surprising."