THE BOONDOCKS - "A Right to Be Hostile ".
The comic strip, The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder, introduces African Americans, referred to as "Blacks- in the comic strip, into the media in a different light from what is typically portrayed on television and newspapers. I use to be an advent comic strip reader and agree with the artist that there is not much diversity in the cartoon characters. Characters were predominately White and jokes were politically correct. Reading The Boondocks exposed me to issues of Black identity, intentional racism, and Black culture. Through the artist's sarcasm and unpolitically correct humor, McGruder forced me to think about multicultural issues and hypocrisy toward African Americans that I thought were no longer present in today's society but unfortunately is still alive in a subtle form.
I admired McGruder's portrayal of being black. Through the eyes of the main character, Huey Freeman, blacks were presented as intelligent, beautiful and revolutionary. Anyone, such as the Jazmine who is half Black and half White with an "Afro-denial,"" who denied blackness, was sobered by Huey's blunt but respectful "wake-up- call. One strip showed Huey scoring higher than the Whites academically while another strip painted proud features of being Black such as their hair and skin color. McGruder can also laugh at the stereotypes White people label for Blacks: gangster rappers, thieves, and basketball players. Being Asian American, I grew up being embarrassed about my Asian features and rarely challenged any injustice because I doubted my rights and reasons. Seeing the artist's pride and dedication in representing Blacks in a positive form motivate me to be proud of where I came from and who I am as a minority. .
I was surprised, though, at how McGruder perceived White and well-off Black people. Intellectually, he saw White people as ignorant and nave. Socially sheltered, their education about Black culture consisted of movies such as "Booty Call,"" "Shaft's Big Score,"" and "The Mack.
