I’ve always looked forward to receiving my copy of the Auburn Reporter for its great community coverage and local perspective. But I need a little help making sense of the most recent Frank Shires’ op-ed cartoon (pregnant mom denied services for being skinny and white, among other things, Feb. 4).

Is there a special state program for the obese I’m unaware of? And surely, the color of the poor pregnant mother’s skin was mentioned as an afterthought. Because the alternative – that in these tough times for so many, this cartoon was intentionally painting non-white ethnic groups as fat and entitled at the expense of society’s fair-skinned babies – is too disturbing for me to accept from my community paper.

It must be a misunderstanding. Perhaps an accompanying article would have provided better context.

– Laura Trimble