The July 12 letter to the editor from Tribune reader Bob Ryan, “Offensive cartoon,” takes “The Boondocks” comic strip to task for finding humor in the death of Strom Thurmond. Ryan wonders what the response would be toward someone finding humor in the death of Martin Luther King Jr. or Medgar Evers.
It is important to remember that Thurmond advocated violence to maintain the segregationist status quo of the 1940s and ’50s, and that King and Evers were murdered by people who supported Thurmond’s virulent racism.
Thurmond only moderated his position many years later when it became politically expedient. He lived a long, comfortable life and died peacefully, in contrast to King and Evers.
Finding humor in the views of someone whose political career was built upon a foundation of ignorance and hatred is not offensive to me, regardless of whether that person is living or dead.
Finding humor in the death of those who were murdered in the struggle for freedom and equality would be extremely offensive.
