'Big Bag o' Happy' crosses the line between satire, anti-Catholic bigotry

The recent "Big Bag O'Happy" cartoons of Josh Proctor (Wildcat, 4/21 and 4/28) prompt us to consider the differences between satire and bigotry. Satire involves exploding self-importance and exploiting foibles with wit and sarcasm. The character Fr. Guido Sarducci on the old "Saturday Night Live," who satirized the role of a Vatican attach‚, is an excellent example. Bigotry, on the other hand, seeks, through caricature and misrepresentation, to belittle and to denigrate.

Mr. Proctor's first cartoon (4/21) could perhaps be said to be closer to satire, although it was insulting to a sacred ritual of Catholicism. His latest cartoon (4/28), however, reveals the true nature of his opinion. Mr. Proctor is, unfortunately, an anti-Catholic bigot. Compare his drawing in this cartoon with the kinds of images one finds blatantly anti-racial or anti-cultural material, such as that produced by white supremacists.

Now, it is not my purpose to suggest that, in our society, a voice, even that of a bigot, should be suppressed. This is not a free press issue. Rather, it is germane to ask if the Wildcat, one of the main media voices of the university, should be a venue for such bigotry. Would the editors or the community allow Mr. Proctor the same license if his bigotry were directed against a racial group? Should we permit bigotry of any sort Ä racial, sexual, cultural or religious Ä to have a prominent place in the newspaper which purports to speak for and about all of us? I ask that the community decide.

By Martinez J. Hewlett, Ph.D. (letter)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 30, 1997