American Book Review

How many times have you heard how one should avoid discussing politics and religion with people? Although contentious, these may be some of the most generative conversations that inhabitants of any country can entertain. Consider then, the conversation that an entire collection of critical political illustrations can generate. This is the gift that Eric J. García provides readers with his book Drawing on Anger: Portraits of U.S. Hypocrisy. García begins this truth-telling crusade with the politics of 2004 and continues until we reach the politics of 2017. García’s collection—organized by the year—provides short introductions to begin each section, allowing the reader a window to enter the political climate of each year. He speaks truth to power through an array of illustrations, revealing the hypocritical nature of controversial actions and policies taken or implemented by the US government.

This book is about pointing out the inconsistencies in popular American political beliefs. García points to hypocrisy, yes, but he also reveals how Americans often suffer from a self-imposed amnesia when it comes to political events and ideologies. Drawing on Anger is refreshing because no political party or president escapes García’s criticism. This book isn’t about who controls the White House, but rather it exposes the problematic behavior that Americans so easily rationalize away. From immigration to Iraq to drones to femicide, García paints an all-encompassing image of the destruction caused by an American system hell-bent on the exploitation of its own people and other nations—all in the name of the Red, White, and Blue.

If García is drawing while angry, then the reader is moving through the book with a rage that continues to build as he highlights blatant American hypocrisy. This collection is not for the politically naïve; it highlights what most Americans fail to see—the nuance—and, there is no other way to say it, the hypocritical and often imperialistic nature of American domestic and foreign policy. García pulls no punches. His criticism is sharp and well deserved; he answers the call—in the face of an aforementioned American amnesia—pointing the finger where it needs to be pointed, into the mirror of America’s collective consciousness.

García presents a poignant stance on the US’s modern economic success through multiple illustrations critiquing the policy surrounding undocumented and immigrant labor. One illustration presents Uncle Sam visiting the doctor about his back (labeled economy) hurting. The X-ray on the screen shows his spine spelling out “i-l-l-e-g-a-l-s” while the doctor pleas with Uncle Sam: “I’m warning you: without your backbone, you’ll never walk the same, much less run.” You do not have to be an economist to realize that most Americans will never pick fruit and vegetables for a living—this will not happen. If you want proof, just ask the state of Georgia, where their House passed HB-87 in 2011. The bill meant to crack down on businesses with more than 10 employees, making them verify the legal status of their workers—essentially targeting undocumented workers. It created a labor shortage of 11,000 workers and cost the state $140 [End Page 9] million in crop losses, which pointsing back to García’s illustration.

The war in Iraq is yet another theme which reveals hypocrisy in this collection. For example, one illustration shows Uncle Sam pushing away religious deities, stating: “Back the hell up! They worship me now . . .” Then a second bubble continues: “ . . . if they know what’s good for them.” Words alone don’t do García’s image justice, which is a picture of earth with drones circling overhead as Uncle Sam handles the joystick that controls them. García seems to question the reader’s understanding of how the US “keeps the peace,” revealing that the US does so...