Journalist Ash Sarkar calls out vile racist tropes in VICE cartoon

Ash Sarkar and Vice logo


Support us and go ad-free

Racist cartoons usually fill far-right papers like the Daily Mail. Few would expect them from liberal outlets too. But “millennial-focused” VICE UK now seems to have joined the club.

Its targets? High-profile figures on the mainstream British left like Diane Abbott, Owen Jones, and Ash Sarkar – all of whom represent minority groups in the UK.

The VICE cartoon portrayed Abbott as a large, aggressive figure, Jones as weak and impotent, and Sarkar with a rocket launcher. There seemed to be little reflection on the fact that these people have long been targets of disgustingly racist, homophobic, and sexist abuse.

VICE cartoon

Ash Sarkar: “this stinks”

Novara journalist Sarkar said the cartoon was “out of line”, especially considering that all three figures have faced death threats:

She also criticised its use of racist, homophobic, and Islamophobic tropes:

And she summed up:

Others were also clearly unhappy with the cartoon:

The media must not pour fuel onto the fire

VICE UK editor Jamie Clifton later tweeted:

He also said:

I unreservedly apologise for the offence caused.

So VICE UK took the feedback, and acted. Credit is due. But at the time of writing, the image was still up on VICE UK‘s Twitter account. And the question remains as to how someone allowed the publication of this vile cartoon in the first place.

Today, there’s an incredibly hostile political environment in the UK. A far-right terrorist murdered Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016. Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, meanwhile, received “more racist tweets and online racism than all the other women MPs put together” in the 2017 election race. And as Sarkar pointed out, both politicians and journalists have faced death threats.

The media must not pour fuel onto the fire. It must strive to put the fire out. Anything less than that is unacceptable. And we must hold all media outlets – both left and right – to much higher standards.

Featured image via WikiCommons – Fraufa / WikiCommons – Jwslubbock

Support us and go ad-free

We need your help to keep speaking the truth

Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.

Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.

We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.

In return, you get:

* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop

Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.

With your help we can continue:

* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do

We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?

The Canary Support us

Related articles


TAGS: