Don Imus isn't the only one drawing heat for using the word "ho"–prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ed Gamble (for the record, he's a white dude) is under fire for his August 17 cartoon in The Florida Times-Union that depicts an African-American man holding a smoking gun, standing over a dead body, and telling two African-American children that they're "good little hos" for not snitching. Behind the kids is a billboard featuring caricatures of rappers and the caption "Rap your life away. BET, Warner Music."
Al Sharpton has already stepped up with criticism of Gamble–as well as taking the cartoonist's side against rap artists–saying he was "appalled" at the cartoon, and that it was "further proof that the hip-hop community and those who market them must be held accountable for the destruction they are causing in the black community." In his defense, Gamble stated that he was "making a point that rappers are demeaning to women," while the The Times-Union's editorial-page boss Mike Clark responded, "Using the word "ho" was bad judgment, and I regret that I did not edit it out. The object of the cartoon was to comment on the rise of a no-snitching culture, something that is widely in the news today." (Thanks to comicsreporter.com.)