Is this cartoon offensive?

The depiction of the chimp is apparently a reference to the 200-pound chimpanzee that mauled a woman in Connecticut earlier this week before officers had to shoot the animal to death.

"The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event," explained Post editor-in-chief Col Allan, who denied that it was intended to refer specifically to Obama. "It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy," he said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, the president of the National Action Network, called the cartoon "troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys." 

"Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder whether the Post cartoonist was inferring that a monkey wrote it," said Sharpton. He also said the cartoonist, Sean Delonas, had "come under heavy fire in the past for racially tinged cartoons including the infamous cartoons depicting 2001 mayoral candidate Freddy Ferrer and me in very unflattering ways."

The Post "should at least clarify what point they were trying to make in this cartoon, and reprimand their cartoonist for making inferences that are offensive and divisive at a time the nation struggles to come together to stabilize the economy if, in fact, this was yet another racially charged cartoon," said Sharpton.

But the Post's Allan disagreed with the criticism, saying that "Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."

Sharpton is not the only critic of the cartoon. New York Gov. David Paterson also questioned the cartoon. The governor said it is "very important for the New York Post to explain what the cartoon was intended to portray."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People released a statement from President Benjamin Todd Jealous saying the newspaper "must do better." Jealous said the NAACP is "saddened that the New York Post chose to create a symbol that is so divisive, insensitive and antithetical to [the] goal" of eradicating racism. 

New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie told the media that he had received numerous calls from outraged constituents. "To run such a violent, racist cartoon is an insult to all New Yorkers. This was an unfortunate incident in which a human being was seriously injured, not an opportunity to sling dangerous rhetoric," Comrie said in a statement.