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Every four to eight years or so, a new face vaults to the top of America’s political totem pole. Reaching the lofty status of presidential hopeful comes with many awesome responsibilities and singular burdens — perhaps none greater than being turned into a cartoon character.
Going back to our nation’s founding, our chief executives and presidential contenders have been subjected to caricature.(Just ask Donald Trump.) We get to tweak the noses of our would-be kings and queens — and they have to like it, or at least live with it.
A great presidential caricature — the word “caricature” is derived from the Latin word that means to load or charge, as in load a gun or charge a battery — isn’t a matter of capturing a likeness. Harnessing the power of satire and humor, it cements an enduring avatar for the individual while they’re in office — one that lingers long after they leave. And unlike many of those memes that some confuse with cartoons, caricatures are signed by an individual who has to stand by their work and defend their opinion.
When a new, potentially presidential face arrives on the scene, a fierce debate ensues among the cartoonists. What are the features that stand out? How far can we tug on those ears? Lampoon a nose? Mock the haircut? What about the clothes and the body language? Is the necktie too long? Is the pantsuit fair game? How far is too far?
Today, that conversation requires us to wrestle with old toxic racial and ethnic stereotypes that were, sadly enough, immensely popular in earlier times. And unfortunately, that kind of racism remains a radioactive aspect of political cartooning, right up to the current generation of ink-stained wretches.
Given that ongoing legacy, the caricature of Kamala Harris, possibly our first Black, South Asian-descended, female president, isn’t just precedent setting. It’s a minefield for cartoonists — even more so because it’s a profession that’s overwhelmingly dominated by white men of a certain age.With that in mind, we checked in with some of the nation’s top political cartoonists to see how they’re homing in on the caricature of Kamala.
