WATCH: Bill Leak Labels Opposition To His Cartoon “Vicious Ignorance”

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Published

August 5, 2016

Um.

A full day into the shitstorm that is the Bill Leak cartoon controversy, the artist himself has appeared on Sky News’ Viewpoint to exactly explain the intentions of his now infamous piece.

Spoiler alert: The Australian’s cartoonist is deadset that all of you sensitive, pearl-clutching moralists are just ignorant to the work’s message, and the outrage against its depiction of Indigenous Australians misses the issue entirely:

“I’m astonished at the vehemence of the response to this cartoon, I really am. It’s the viciousness of ignorance that really astonishes me.
And when I say ignorance, I really mean ignorance, because the message in that cartoon was extremely clear.”

Bill Leak says he is astonished at the ‘ignorance and viciousness’ in the response to his controversial cartoon https://t.co/aurdmCN0xz

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) August 5, 2016

That statement betrays the fact nobody is denying there are significant issues facing remote Indigenous communities. Nada. Zilch. Zero pitchforks have been raised due to Leak’s clumsy-at-best attempt to broach those topics, which are indeed of national importance.

Rather, opposition to the cartoon’s depiction of Indigenous Australians centres on the way Leak framed the ongoing abuse scandal in the Northern Territory’s juvenile detention system. Make no mistake, The Australian itself made sure to brand the cartoon as part of that very specific narrative.

There ain’t no wriggle room here: the cartoon explicitly took place before the conversation “moved on” to a broader discussion of Indigenous issues.

So, by focusing on the actions (or inactions) of Indigenous fathers, rather than the actual perpetrators of abuse at facilities like Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, Leak tacitly implied those communities have brought the abuse upon themselves.

Not the guards. Not the authorities who didn’t investigate claims of abuse. This issue stems from the apparent dysfunctions within Australia’s Indigenous communities, according to Leak. And that’s racist as hell.

That’s what has people up in arms, and it’s what has people spouting this so-called “ignorance.” Regardless, Leak compounded his point later in the interview, when he said “everybody knows [the supposed lack of family role models] is the problem.”

Again, *not* the perpetrators. It’s apparently the victims who are at fault:

Bill Leak explains the rationale behind his cartoon that has sparked controversy over the past 48 hours #Viewpoint https://t.co/5BlV8FE0Kh

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) August 5, 2016

Sprinkle in some casual chatter about eugenics, and boy howdy, have you got yourself an absolute wreck of a thought process. How’s that for vicious ignorance?

Source and photo: Sky News Australia / Twitter.