THE RECENT New Yorker caricature of Barack and Michelle Obama is in poor taste and is not funny, but it is certainly not beyond the limits of what is permissible and typical political satire ("Caricature brings attention, irritation," Page A4, July 15).
This raises the question of why so many people feel that it was so offensive that it should not have been published. The reason may be that it succeeds so well in its objective of holding a mirror up to our society, a mirror in which we do not like what we see.
Recent polls have shown that a significant number of Americans incorrectly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. In addition, the cartoon on the cover of The New Yorker reinforces the stereotype that most Muslims are terrorists. America's growing Muslim population raises to the surface unwarranted fears such as this.
The problem is not the cartoon. We have met the problem, and it is ourselves. Until we as Americans can come to terms with our ethnic and racial diversity and who we are as a people, we will continue to be motivated by unjustifiable fear instead of by reason.
ROBERT HANLON
Chelmsford
