NC newspaper publisher resigns after apologizing for cartoon

ROXBORO, NC (AP) — The editor and publisher of a North Carolina newspaper has resigned after running a syndicated cartoon that has been criticized as racist.

The Courier-Times in Roxboro said Tuesday that editor Johnny Whitefield’s resignation is effective immediately and that the cartoon which ran June 11 “does not reflect the views of the Courier-Times.”

The cartoon depicts a masked black man grabbing a white woman’s purse.

She asks for someone to call 911 but the man says, “Good luck with that lady … we defunded the police.”

The same cartoon also prompted resignations at the Washington Missourian, a family-owned newspaper in Missouri.