Fighting racism through cartoons

In a colorful world, some people always lose out. This is what is depicted in this cartoon by South Korean artist Young Sik Oh. The humankind has still not succeeded in eradicating rampant racism. Discrimination affects not only people with dark skin, but also homosexuals, women or people of other faiths, depending on where you live on this globe.

In this cartoon by German Peer Wedderwille, two black birds are perched on a tree branch, against a dreary black-and-white landscape. While observing a colorful bird perched on a branch opposite, one black bird says to the other that foreigners don't fit in so well, even visually.

"Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony, side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we?" sang ex-Beatle Paul McCartney in his famous song "Ebony and Ivory." Belgian Kim Duchateau must have asked himself the same question when he drew this cartoon. A pianist should know that without the harmony of black and white keys, one is left only with cacophony.

The "Ode to Joy" is known worldwide: written by poet Friedrich Schiller in 1785, Ludwig van Beethoven set it to music in his 9th Symphony. It has been the official anthem of the European Union since 1985. This cartoon of fugitives getting caught in the song's staves that resemble barbed wire and against the line "all men will become brothers," reflects how refugees are treated at Europe's borders.

There are many reasons why people leave their homelands: war, oppression or poverty. However, these refugees are not often welcome elsewhere. So, they try to reach other "promised lands" illegally on foot or by rubber dinghy. Jan Tomaschoff's cartoon depicts how even if countries were open to receiving refugees, the latter are expected to prove themselves of use to their adopted countries first.

Democratic societies prohibit racism or discrimination of any kind by constitutional law. Nevertheless, some seemingly "respectable" people conceal far-right ideas behind their common-man facade, as Bernd Pohlenz vividly illustrates in his cartoon. Here, inside the head of a man in a suit, a smaller man in skinhead style, holding a baseball bat, peeks out of the eye as if it were a peephole.

This cartoon by Iranian Saaed Sadeghi features pencils lined up, except one has on a pointed white hood, with slits for the eyes: the unmistakable garb of the Ku Klux Klan. This secret society did not want to accept the fact that slavery was abolished in the US after the American Civil War (1861-1865). Its members systematically hunted blacks — and later Jews, communists and homosexuals.

US artist Loren Fishman honors American Black icon against racial segregation Rosa Parks. The African-American was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger. Almost 70 years later, racism is still a major issue in the USA. In this cartoon, a Black woman stands in front of a washing machine with colored and white wash options and thinks: "To hell with this…"

Diversity is what makes life colorful. To illustrate this, Guido Kühn has featured the "Girl with the Pearl Earrings" from Johannes Vermeer's famous painting. Here, the beauty often referred to as the "Mona Lisa of the North" is seen with three smiling sisters of different skin tones. The inscription below says it all.

Turkish cartoonist Burak Ergin appeals for more tolerance in society. While footage of the police beating down demonstrators often makes headlines, in his cartoon, police officers and demonstrators bearing flowers run into each other's arms. The reality however looks very different — his drawing is a utopian wish for harmony.

In cartoonist Freelah's native Brazil there are all "ethno colors," as he himself calls it. People of many nations have intermarried here with the native inhabitants, and Brazilians of every conceivable skin color make up the cultural wealth of the country. And yet racism against Blacks or dark-skinned people remains the order of the day here.

Racism would probably no longer be an issue if people internalized the Chinese principle of yin and yang: two opposing forces attract each other, with neither being superior to the other. They are in balance and are inseparable as two halves of a whole, united in harmony. With his cartoon, Cuban Miguel Morales clearly says: "No to racism."