The overall message conveyed in the cartoons regarding the Ground Zero Park51 Mosque controversy is that many are upset with the decision to move forward and build a Muslim community center near Ground Zero. We have also found that - according to the cartoons - the majority of cartoonists are against the building of Park51. There are others, however, that feel that the building of the community center could possibly heal bad relations between regular Americans and Muslim Americans.
Throughout the cartoons we noticed that a majority of the cartoons portrayed people of Muslim decent as terrorists, or people who thought they are winning a victory over America by the building of this community center. This happens to be one of the messages that is being cultivated towards Americans. The other message that is being cultivated is that by building this community center it will show that we as Americans are willing to get past the color of people’s skin, or their religion, and make peace with a group of people we once saw as enemies after the 9/11 attacks.
We found that a majority of the cartoonists used truthiness behind their cartoons. It usually was the cartoonists opposed of the mosque. The cartoonists were trying to make a point by over emphasizing different parts of the issue. An example of this is cartoon # 4 when President Obama digs on the grave site of mass 9/11 victims. Everyone knows that no President would ever dig on the site of one of nations worst tragedies. Overall on both sides we believe that cartoonists use the extremes of the issue to generate talk about the issue itself.
We found through our project that cartoonist mainly frame racism in two separate ways. One is more subtle and involves the use of satire. A good example of this is in cartoon # 18 which shows terrorists hoping that we deny the building of the mosque. The second popular method is being blunt and making the racism clear and blunt, the best example of this that we found is cartoon # 12 which depicts the mosque literally being built on the graves of those killed on 9/11. Both techniques were used to either support or disapprove of racism towards Muslims. The cartoons that we researched mainly used framing as the prevalent media effect. However, some cartoons did use the cultivation theory when showing people of the community center, as well as agenda setting by telling the viewers what to think about the building of the community center. The best example that we found using framing was cartoon # 13. This cartoon depicted a Muslim dressed as a terrorist clad in rounds of ammunition and a gun at hand. With a sign in the background that saying, “death to America”, this cartoon obviously frames the Muslim as a terrorist to the average American viewer.
The second media effects theory that we noticed was the cultivation theory. This is mainly used in the portrayal of the community center on Ground Zero such as an elaborate mosque. Cartoon # 8 shows the destruction of the World Trade Center building next to a mosque arising in its ashes. This cartoon reminds the public of 9/11 and creates the idea that the community center is a place of worship for the radical Muslims who were responsible for the attack. As we know from our research, this is completely false.
Lastly, we found that several cartoons used agenda setting by telling us what to think about the building of the community center and the people involved. The main examples of this can be found under our President Obama tab. These cartoons wanted the viewers to think that President Obama was either very diplomatic and indecisive or siding with the Muslims for his own political purposes.
The cartoons offer three different viewpoints that we are encouraged to use when thinking about the topic of racism involving the building of Park 51. The first is acceptance of the Muslim Community Center. This is mainly conveyed through proving that Muslims should not be denied rights that are constitutionally promised to them. As well as the ideal that we should accept all and hold no prejudices. The best example that we researched is cartoon # 20. This cartoon compares a protester of the Islamic Community Center to the surrounding him, come of these words are, bigoted, ignorant, unconstitutional, opposition, etc.
The second way that cartoonist encourage us to think about Muslims in a racist sense is an emotional plea involving 9/11 and the ideal that all Muslims should be associated with terrorism. The best example of this is found in cartoon #11, which features the American flag along with the word tolerance below it, outside the newly built mosque. However, the shadows behind the Mosque reminds the viewer of the deaths involved in the World Trade Center attack.
The third way that cartoonist encourage viewers to think about racism is not necessarily giving their opinion on whether anti-Muslim feelings are right or wrong but simply allowing either side of the issue to come to their own conclusion on the meaning of the cartoon. An example of this is cartoon # 9. This cartoon is of a man wearing a shirt that says, I Love America, then a bubble next to him saying, “... but I hate Muslims, Gays, Hispanics, Liberals, Democrats, Environ...”. This cartoon doesn’t necessarily state if those feelings are wrong or right, or how to apply them to the building of the community center in New York or other racist issues. However, it does cause the viewer to think about those social beliefs on their own and to decide how to decipher the cartoon in agreement, or disapproval.
Many cartoons portrayed the individuals involved with the building of the Park51 Mosque - whether for or against - with having their own agendas. However, it is up to the individual to be responsible enough to not only research the issues at hand, but to intelligently and rationally arrive to a conclusion. 
