Sharpton Blasts 'Boondocks' Episode
26 January 2006 (StudioBriefing)
The Cartoon Network has rejected a demand by the Rev. Al Sharpton that it apologize for a Jan. 15 episode of the animated The Boondocks in which a character imagines Martin Luther King emerging from a coma and venting his anger over such things as hip-hop videos. At one point King shouts, "Will you ignorant n.....s please shut the hell up!" The episode aired on the eve of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. "Cartoon Network must apologize and also commit to pulling episodes that desecrate black historic figures," Sharpton said in a statement. In an interview with the New York Post Sharpton added that he resented black cartoonist Aaron McGruder's "making Dr. King in the image of using the n-word and being profane." However, the Cartoon Network said that it regarded the episode as a tribute to the civil rights leader, and added, "We think Aaron McGruder came up with a thought-provoking way of not only showing Dr King's bravery, but also of reminding us of what he stood and fought for."