Deconstructing a comparison

Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With"

Glenn McCoy's version

Conservative cartoonist, Glenn McCoy attempted to make a statement about our country with a cartoon.  I think he did a good job of that, but I don't think it was the statement he intended to make.  The artist had this to say:

"My cartoon was about how, in this day and age, decades beyond the civil rights protests, it's sad that people are still being denied the right to speak freely or do their jobs or enter public buildings because others disagree with who they are or how they think," he said in the statement. "I'm surprised that some readers see 'hate' in this cartoon when I thought I was speaking out against hate."

So, for anyone who doesn't know what's going on in the two pictures, a synopsis:
The original art depicts Ruby Bridges as she desegregated a New Orleans school in 1960.  The second version depicts Betsy DeVos as she prepares to start working as Secretary of Education.

People on the internet are upset with the comparison.  There are multiple difficulties with McCoy's depiction, but for me, the main issue is the comparison itself.

By making the comparison, McCoy shows he doesn't really understand what's going on in the original artwork.  It's a painting that shows a courageous young girl standing up for what's right, with the whole culture fighting against her, even though she's done nothing wrong.  This is where the comparison to DeVos breaks down.  DeVos is a person of wealth and power who has consistently worked against public schools and kids like Ruby Bridges.  That's a very good reason for people to be upset with her.  DeVos is no victim of hate.  She's actively working against the very system that gave Ruby the right to an "equal" education.

Further, McCoy states that it's sad that people are "being denied...because others disagree with who they are or how they think".  Ruby Bridges was being denied for who she was, a young, black girl.  That's not acceptable.  Betsy DeVos isn't being denied anything, but she's being spoken against for how she thinks, not who she is, because how she thinks leads her to actions that many believe are not in the best interest of this country.  It's exactly what Americans are supposed to do when participating in democracy.

Further again, most of the African Americans I know could break all that down for Mr. McCoy in about one minute.  That's because living with this reality of racism brings it home in a way that not living with it does not.  Watching white people who have never dealt with these issues of race in any meaningful way comment on topics that they've clearly spent very little time trying to understand, is offensive. The next time Glenn McCoy wants to talk about race in America, he should educate himself first, so that what he has to say isn't so ignorant.