Bill and Don.

Those were the two names that immediately came to mind after it was made aware The New York Post announced it had agreed to form an external “diversity council” after meeting with local civil rights groups.

The meeting stemmed from fury over The Post’s cartoon earlier this year that portrayed President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee.

Apparently, the company will form this “diversity community council” in New York City that will meet with senior company executives twice a year.

When the cartoon hit the stands, critics of The Post including local activist the Rev. Al Sharpton and movie mogul Spike Lee argued the paper’s cartoon had linked Obama to the chimpanzee that was shot dead by police in Connecticut.

At the time, protesters asked for a complete boycott of the paper. The cartoon also enraged local politicians and journalists and created heated dialogue in how minorities — specifically African-Americans — are viewed and portrayed by the media.

The drawing by longtime Post cartoonist Sean Delonas showed a dead chimp and two police officers, one with a smoking gun. The caption read, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” The cartoon referred to Travis the chimp, who was shot to death by police after it mauled a friend of its owner. Obama signed his administration’s economic stimulus plan the next day.

The paper later gave a lackluster apology that was followed by one from its owner media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Months later, a diversity council is being built for the company.

Sounds familiar?

Our community has long been the target of race-bashing behavior from high-profiled individuals and companies aimed to denigrate and humiliate an already struggling society. And, to make matters worse, we as a people, accept these insincere, pathetic apologies that follow.

The Black community must put an end to this trend: We raise a fuss for a minute, then give a slap on the wrist, and all is well with the world.

Heard of Bill Bennett and Don Imus?

Speaking on his daily radio show in 2005, William Bennett, who served as education secretary under President Ronald Reagan stated: “If you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose; you could abort every Black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.”

Bennett went on to qualify his comments, which were made in response to a hypothesis that linked the falling crime rate to a rising abortion rate.

Aborting Black babies, he added, would be “an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.”

Bennett was later met with outrage from the Black community. His ties to the School District of Philadelphia were cut off along with other connections. But, the plug was only pulled temporarily – Bennett was able to reappear a few months later to continue his rants on the air.

Next is Imus. After a long stint of using racially insensitive material, Imus found himself at the center of everything in 2007 after he called members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos.”

Protests followed, and one by one, numerous sponsors pulled their ads from Imus' show. MSNBC later dropped its simulcast of the program. Imus was later fired from CBS after a showdown with Sharpton and a growing chorus of outraged women.

After a few months of being off the air, Imus approached the public with an apology with a born-again demeanor, and, you guessed it, he’s back on the air.

If we continue to let high-powered companies get away with these types of behavior it will be expected of us to continue our lackluster response in punishing these individuals for their actions.

Hopefully, Sharpton will stick to his guns with News Corp. – unlike his forgiveness with Imus. Because, in these cases, the Black community must embrace the value of right and wrong and hold these community nuisances accountable for the abuse they are bringing.

If we do not, we will surely get trampled over and over and over again.