''Trying to Trash Betsy DeVos'' is a political cartoon by American cartoonist

Glenn McCoy Glenn McCoy (born 1965) is a conservative American cartoonist, whose work includes the comic strip '' The Duplex'' and the daily panel he does with his brother Gary entitled ''The Flying McCoys''. McCoy previously produced editorial cartoons u ...

, published on February 13, 2017, on the

GoComics GoComics is a website launched in 2005 by the digital entertainment provider Uclick. It was originally created as a distribution portal for comic strips on mobile phones, but in 2006, the site was redesigned and expanded to include online strips ...

website as well as the ''

Belleville News-Democrat The ''Belleville News-Democrat'' is a daily newspaper in Belleville, Illinois. Focusing on news that is local to the area of southwestern Illinois, it has been published under various names for 150 years. As of 2009, it is published by The McCl ...

'' website. The cartoon centrally depicts

Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her support for s ...

, the

United States Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on ...

in the

Trump Administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

and is thematically based on the 1964 painting ''

The Problem We All Live With ''The Problem We All Live With '' is a painting by Norman Rockwell that is considered an iconic image of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It depicts Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old African-American girl, on her way to William Frantz E ...

'' by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

. It attracted critical commentary in mainstream media.

Description

The cartoon depicts a small version of DeVos walking and surrounded by large men in suits, who are possibly guards. The remains of a thrown tomato can also be seen. The word "CONSERVATiVE" is scrawled on the background wall in gray

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

in addition to a red

anarchy symbol Anarchists have employed certain symbols for their cause, including most prominently the circle-A and the black flag. Anarchist cultural symbols have been prevalent in popular culture since around the turn of the 21st century, concurrent with t ...

. The abbreviation for the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

is also written on the lefthand side.

Publication

The cartoon was published online on February 13, 2017, on the

website, in addition to multiple newspapers. It was also published on the website of the ''

''.

Reaction

Commentators point out that the political cartoon draws directly upon ''

'' by

, which depicts

Ruby Bridges Ruby Nell Bridges Hall (born September 8, 1954) is an American civil rights activist. She was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegreg ...

being escorted to school as a child during a time when crowds of white protesters would actively prevent desegregation efforts initiated by the ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

'' case. McCoy confirmed that he used the Rockwell piece as an inspiration for the political cartoon. On social media, the cartoon was met with unfavorable criticism. Readers of the ''Belleville News-Democrat'' demanded both that McCoy apologize and that he be terminated from his position. Many complaints centered upon an alleged

false equivalency False equivalence is an informal fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. Colloquially, a false equivalence is often called "com ...

. Among others,

Chelsea Clinton Chelsea Victoria Clinton (born February 27, 1980) is an American writer and global health advocate. She is the only child of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton ...

responded publicly by expressing outrage at the cartoon, and subsequently pointed out ''The Problem We All Live With'' on Twitter. One reason for this reaction was due to the explicit comparison of opposition to DeVos with themes of racism explored in Norman Rockwell's ''The Problem We All Live With''. German Lopez at Vox.com opined that "protests against DeVos and racial segregation in American schools are not the same". Jillian Steinhauer asserted that McCoy's work is an example of

false equivalence False equivalence is an informal fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. Colloquially, a false equivalence is often called "com ...

, saying, "Glenn McCoy appropriated Norman Rockwell’s ''The Problem We All Live With'', replacing the six-year-old black girl who desegregated a public school with the billionaire Secretary of Education". ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' highlighted a comment from a reader who responded to the image, claiming it represents an example of

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots ...

. A representative for the

offered no comment on the political cartoon. McCoy responded to criticism via e-mail, saying, "I regret if anyone was offended by my choice of

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

s", and noted that he wanted to draw attention to and start public discussion on the behavior of protesters. In a statement on the ''

'' website, McCoy also expressed disappointment that, "decades beyond the civil rights protests... people are still being denied the right to speak freely or do their jobs or enter public buildings because others disagree with who they are or how they think". Faced with accusations that the image is hateful, McCoy defended his work, saying, "I thought I was speaking out against hate... You may disagree with her on issues but I didn't see any hate coming from her. I did, however, see hate going in the other direction, which is what made me think of the Rockwell image. That was the only comparison I was drawing".

References

{{reflist, 30em Editorial cartoons 2017 works American political satire Media about the Trump presidency Norman Rockwell Cultural depictions of American women Cultural depictions of politicians Cartoon controversies Parodies of paintings