Dilbert cartoon dropped by US media over racist remarks

The cartoon ‘Dilbert’ has been taken off from various US media organisations in response to racist statements by its creator, Scott Adams, on his YouTube channel, reported Moneycontrol.

This comes as a reaction to a conservative organization's poll claiming that many African Americans disagree with the slogan ‘It's OK to be white,’ Adams termed Black Americans a ‘hate group’ and advised white Folks to ‘stay away from Black people.’

“Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people," he had said.

“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with White people -- according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll -- that’s a hate group,” Adams added.

This quickly escalated as numerous publishers announced that they would no longer be hosting Adams' comic strips.

Adding more woes to Dilbert, the Los Angeles Times announced that he would not be a part of most editions on Monday, but it will appear on Sunday, i.e. March 12 as the comic has been printed in advance.

"The Times has decided to cease publication of “Dilbert.” Cartoonist Scott Adams made racist comments in a YouTube livestream Feb. 22, offensive remarks that The Times rejects," the newspaper said.

The USA Today network has also announced that Dilbert will no longer be published owing to "recent racist comments by its author."

The Washington Post has also joined the league as it plans to stop giving platforms to Dilbert.

The comic was also cancelled by the Cleveland Plain Dealer and other newspapers in the Advance Local media group.

“This is a decision based on the principles of this news organization and the community we serve,” The Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn said. "We are not a home for those who espouse racism. We certainly do not want to provide them with financial support.”

The San Antonio Express-News will discontinue the comic strip on Monday due to Scott's ‘hateful and racist public comments.’

Adams defended his statements, saying he was merely urging that people avoid hatred, and that the backlash against his cartoon demonstrated that free expression was under complete threat. 

A similar incident happened in 2011 when the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo was firebombed after it temporarily changed its name to "Charia Hebdo" (a play on "Sharia," or Islamic law) for a particular issue and asked the Prophet Muhammad to serve as "editor in chief."

In 2012, after a global outcry over the release of an anti-Islam film, the satirical magazine published an issue with several drawings that purported to represent Muhammad naked.

In 2015, Islamist militants stormed Charlie Hebdo's headquarters, murdering 12 people, after the magazine published drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.

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