Cartoonists criticize ‘Dilbert’ creator over racist remarks

NEW YORK — Cartoonists are pushing back against racist remarks made by “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, with one artist even using his own strip this week to lampoon the disgraced cartoon now dropped by newspapers nationwide.

Darrin Bell is transforming his strip “Candorville” — which usually features young Black and Latino characters — into a way to address Adams’ racism by mimicking the look and style of “Dilbert,” complete with wayward necktie.

“The only reason anyone knows who Scott Adams is because of the comics page. So I thought somebody on the comics page should respond to him on the comics page,” said Bell, the 2019 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary.

In the strips running Monday to Saturday, Bell paired Dilbert with one of his own characters, Lemont Brown. In one, Dilbert hopes Lemont will side with him in his quest to get a laundry room installed at work.

“You could wash your hoodie,” says Dilbert. Responds Lemont: “And you could wash your hood?”

Adams, who is white, was an outspoken — and controversial — presence on social media long before describing Black people as a “hate group” on YouTube last month. Adams repeatedly referred to people who are Black as members of a “hate group” and said he would no longer “help Black Americans.” He later said he was being hyperbolic, yet defended his stance.

“When somebody goes too far like Scott Adams did, everyone who knows better should stand up and use their First Amendment to draw a line — to say that this is unacceptable,” said Bell, whose new graphic novel “The Talk” explores growing up as a biracial man in white culture.

Other cartoonists have stepped forward to denounce Adams, like Bill Holbrook, the creator of “On the Fastrack,” a strip that features an interracial family and — like “Dilbert” — focuses on a modern workplace.

“One of the things I wanted to spotlight with my characters is that people do rise above their differences. It can work,” Holbrook said. “That’s the spotlight I wanted to focus on and still do.”

Holbrook said the Adams case is not one of so-called cancel culture but of consequences.

“I am in full support with him saying anything he wants to, but then he has to own the consequences of saying them,” he said. “He’s not being canceled. He’s experiencing the consequences of expressing his views.”