This is a message from the Chinese Students and Scholars Society regarding the cartoon drawn by John Bonza on the opinion page of the Feb. 27 issue of The Lantern.
Shortly after Wednesday’s Lantern was released, many Chinese readers showed great concern on possible negative effects this cartoon had on China’s image. Many Chinese students felt terribly offended by this cartoon depicting China as an “axis of evil.”
Although Bonza later indicated that his drawing was to mock Bush’s intention to seek China’s alliances against countries in an “axis of evil” during his visit to China, Chinese students felt despite the different interpretations, the cartoon misleads common readers in comprehending sensitive political issues.
To avoid being biased, some of the Chinese students voluntarily showed the cartoon to their colleagues and friends, including American students, professors and international students from other countries. A significant number of them thought the cartoon could be viewed as conveying a negative message.
Over 1,100 Chinese students and scholars are studying and working at various academic departments and research facilities at Ohio State, each working hard and contributing to building a great future of this university. We especially cherish the culture of diversity. We are reluctant to see anything that might undermine this diversity.
We would like to call for close consideration and more sensitive attitudes on issues of diversity in any future publications.
Chinese Students and Scholars Society Committee
