The cartoon below from Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader created quite an uproar over the reference to Governor-elect Matt Bevin’s children, four of whom are adopted African Americans from Ethiopia.

MY RADIO INTERVIEW WITH JOEL PETT HERE — Mr. Pett said he has no preconceived agenda for drawing future cartoons about soon-to-be Governor Bevin.

The governor-elect issued a strong response:

Statement from Governor-Elect Matt Bevin Regarding the Lexington Herald-Leader Cartoon

Frankfort, KY – The following is a statement from Governor-Elect Matt Bevin regarding the cartoon by Joel Pett published in today’s Lexington Herald-Leader:

“They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Indeed, today, the Lexington Herald-Leader chose to articulate with great clarity the deplorably racist ideology of “cartoonist”, Joel Pett. Shame on Mr. Pett for his deplorable attack on my children and shame on the editorial controls that approved this overt racism.

Let me be crystal clear, the tone of racial intolerance being struck by the Herald-Leader has no place in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and will not be tolerated by our administration.”

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Cartooning cuts both ways. One day after the Paris terror attacks, this image popped online.

After Republican governors opposed the influx of Syrian refugees, this image popped online.

Bill Maher: “This is known as parody, and it’s a form of something we in the comedy business call a joke.”

Joel Pett and I discussed the careful treading required of white satirists to address the issue of race. What we are often told is that it’s better to let black people to make jokes about black people.