Student Newspaper Editors Apologize for Printing “Offensive” Illustration

cartoonThe student newspaper at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh printed an illustration on its front page depicting s stereotypical portrayal of a Black student. The student is walking through a neighborhood with boarded-up and broken windows, a car on blocks, graffiti on the side of a building, and a damaged street sign. The article was about the admission rates of minority students at the university.

The editors of the paper apologized on the newspaper’s website by stating:

“It has come to our attention that the graphic in question not only has a disconnect to the article it was created to work with, but it also unintentionally features offensive and stereotypical elements that misrepresent African ­American students. To be frank, we deeply regret the use of this graphic and any offense or harm it may have caused our friends and peers. As SUNY Plattsburgh students and editors of the newspaper, we are constantly trying to represent the campus community in the best possible way, and in this case, we did not do so.”

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2 COMMENTS

  1. I certainly hope no one is surprised in this type of racist behavior at SUNY-Plattsburgh because its indicative of how many Whites (i.e., students, staff, faculty, and administrators) situated and thousands of Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs) across this country view Black Americans unfortunately. Not to mention that Plattsburgh, NY is 90 percent White which definitely mean the people have virtually no interfacing with Black Americans not including what they see on TV, film, music videos, or print media.

    These socially ignorant students fail to realize how the rest of world see they treat Black Americans citizens. As a result, those outside of the United States will very easily tell America “don’t you tell me how to treat my citizens(in my country) when you fail to treat Black American citizens with full citizenship rights and dignity”.

  2. more empty apologies. a robust reparations policy would do a lot to address the poverty in the so-called inner-city ghettoes of the united states. black people aren’t the reason so many neighborhoods are in disrepair — the blame lies squarely with racist housing policies and related practices which go back to “emancipation” and continue to this date.

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