Democrat Rep. Bowman accused of suggesting minorities can't take standardized tests by sharing cartoon

Cartoon shared by former middle school principal depicts different species being told to climb a tree

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. has been accused of suggesting minorities are  incapable of successfully undergoing "standardized testing."

Bowman, a former middle school principal who earlier this month called testing "a pillar of systemic racism," shared a political cartoon on Twitter Monday that depicts a row of animals in front of a tree. The animals include a bird, a monkey, a penguin, an elephant, a fish, a seal, and a dog.

In front of them, a man sitting behind a desk tells the animals, "For a fair selection everybody has to take the same exam: please climb that tree."

"Our education system and the problem with standardized testing," Bowman tweeted alongside the cartoon.

AOC: ANYONE WHO USES TERM 'SURGE' ABOUT BORDER CRISIS IS INVOKING A 'MILITARISTIC FRAME'

Bowman's tweet was widely blasted on social media, with some calling it "racist" and comparing it to rhetoric from White supremacist David Duke. 

"You're suggesting different students given a standardized test are like ... different species? Are you kidding me with this?" Atlantic staff writer Conor Friedersdorf asked.

"The neo-racism of 'anti-racism,'" journalist Bari Weiss reacted.

"There are issues with standardized testing. This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, it," New York Times journalist Jane Coaston wrote. 

"the woke spectrum: woke, extremely woke, ludicrously woke, alt-right," writer Allahpundit reacted.

"'Asking a [B]lack person to pass a test is like asking a goldfish to climb a tree.' Who said it: David Duke or Jamaal Bowman?" PJ Media columnist Jim Treacher tweeted.

"Someone please explain to me how this isn't the most racist thing they've seen on their feeds all day," Washington Examiner commentator Tiana Lowe said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"I don't know if we should send the message that children are drawn from a range of biologically different species who are not at all capable of the same basic set of tasks or skills..." journalist Zaid Jilani wrote. 

Rep. Bowman's office did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.