Baltimore Bridge Crash: Internet Schools Webcomic Publisher For Racist Cartoon Of Crew On Ship With US Pilot

A racially insensitive cartoon by Foxford Comics, a US-based webcomic, depicted the Indian crew members in 'brownface attire', standing inside the ship's control room amid murky water.

A cartoon by Foxford Comics.

Source : X/@FoxfordComics

Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Reacting to a cartoon depicting Indian crew members onboard the ill-fated 'DALI' container ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, US, on Wednesday, netizens slammed the cartoon as 'racist', while others pointed out that the ship was most likely being steered by a local American.

A racially insensitive cartoon by Foxford Comics, a US-based webcomic, depicted the Indian crew members in 'brownface attire', standing inside the ship's control room amid murky water. They are all dressed in loincloths and appear to be shocked as the vessel approaches and collides with the bridge.

"Last known recording from inside the Dali moments before impact," the Foxford Comics cartoon was captioned on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter). The cartoon also features audio of people swearing at each other in a strong Indian English accent.

According to a scan performed on the AI content detection website isitAI.com, the image was most likely generated by AI.

Take A Look At The Post Here: 

Last known recording from inside the Dali moments before impact pic.twitter.com/Z1vkc828TY

— Foxford Comics (@FoxfordComics) March 26, 2024

Dali Crew Members 'Undoubtedly Saved Lives': 

However, these cartoons were far from accurate. According to officials, the Singapore-flagged ship 'Dali' experienced a "power issue" and issued a distress call moments before the crash.

Not only Maryland Governor Wes Moore, but also US President Joe Biden, praised Dali's crew members for their quick thinking in sending a Mayday call. Biden stated that the crew "undoubtedly saved lives" by quickly alerting transportation officials to the container ship's loss of control. This resulted in the bridge being closed on time. Click here to read the full report. 

Maryland Governor Moore stated, "These people are heroes, they saved lives last night". Indian economist Sanjeev Sanyal shared the illustration, stating that the ship was most likely being steered by a local pilot at the time of the incident.

"At the time that the ship hit the bridge, it would have had a local pilot," said in an X post. 

The Indian economist slammed the cartoon, claiming that Dali's crew warned the authorities, which is why casualties were low for a disaster like the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Here's How Netizens Reacted: 

Hundreds of people criticised the viral illustration, which has since received 4.3 million views and 2.1k comments on X, as 'racist'.

It drew a Community Notes warning from the social media site, highlighting that the pilots were local knowledge experts who gave commands to the bridge team for rudder and engine settings, as well as which course to steer, citing a Washington Post article.

"There were 2 local US Pilots in the ship responsible for operating the ship. The 22 other crew members were of Indian origin and the ship is Singaporean-owned," the warning read. 

A user responded to Sanyal's post, asking, "Why aren't you guys doing anything about this?" I mean, racism towards Indians has recently skyrocketed."

"Prejudice can cloud judgement to the point where one even ignores the fact that the Indian crew of the ship were the ones to take immediate action to save lives and minimise the disaster's impact, something rightly acknowledged by POTUS Biden," wrote one user.

"Do these people realise that most cargo ships have crews primarily from India and the Philippines? I doubt it. "They wouldn't make such racist remarks otherwise," another user responded.

Another user commented, "Despite the ship being steered by a local American, the heroism of the all-Indian crew during the Baltimore bridge incident is undeniable." This emphasises the importance of recognising and addressing systemic issues such as racism.

"This racism-based mockery is in very poor taste," one user stated. 

"This is very bad taste! Also appears racist and bigoted. Some facts: Local Baltimore pilots were navigating the ship; Indians were wise to alert/SoS local authorities to halt vehicular traffic on the bridge, saving many lives!! "Now this... (sic)," responded another user.