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Gainesville, Fla. -- Sept. 21, 2005 –
University of Florida student body President Joe Goldberg Thursday issued
an executive order cutting off all student funds to The Alligator
newspaper following an editorial cartoon with the word "nigga," which
sparked a campus-wide controversy. He was one of scores of residents of the Gainesville, Fla.,
community – Blacks, Whites and Hispanics – to pack a campus
lecture hall to speak out against the cartoon. The focus of the controversy is an editorial cartoon in the
student-run independent newspaper, The Alligator, last week, showing
rapper Kanye West holding a playing card titled “The Race Card” and Condoleezza
Rice responding with, “Nigga Please!”
Denise Jean-Louis, the Black Student Union president, said she
was shocked when she saw the drawing on her way to class. “I was outraged and
hurt from the use of the “N-word,” she said. “I was hurt because I already
attend a university that is predominantly White, and I felt segregated from the
rest of the school greatly because of this publication.” Black leaders on campus visited Emily Yehle, the opinion editor
for The Alligator, the day the issue was printed, demanding an
explanation. Whitney Howzell, chairwoman of the university’s Reitz Union
Board of Managers, said she left her meeting with Yehle astonished. “She said
she didn’t feel that the’N-word’ was offensive and that if the cartoon came to
her desk again, she would print it again,” Howzell said. On Monday, students marched from campus to The Alligator
office building, trashed heaps of the publication in front of the newspaper
building. Staff locked themselves inside. Students are demanding that editorial staff apologize for the
cartoon. Staff members, however, are standing firm on their decision to print
the cartoon. Andy Marlette, the artist, who is White, revised the cartoon with
an explanation of the “N-word” and pointed out that a lot of African-Americans
use the word casually among one another. University of Florida President Bernie Machen said The
Alligator’s readers deserve an apology. “We were disgusted by the
image and discouraged that such an insensitive cartoon could be published in a
newspaper that, while independent from the university, is written and edited by
UF students,” said Machen in a statement printed in The
Alligator. “The ongoing problem of racial injustice in this country – with
its legacy of dashed hopes and blatant discrimination – demands sensitive and
measured discussion, not flip and irresponsible commentary.” Adding to the controversy, Kanye West is scheduled to perform on
UF’s campus Oct. 13. West is expected to perform his new hit song, “Golddigger,”
which repeatedly uses the word “nigger” throughout the chorus. Some students say
if UF’s administration takes a stand against The Alligator’s use of the
“N-word” on campus, then Kanye West shouldn’t be allowed to use the word
either. Soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, West, in a
nationally televised benefit, proclaimed that "President Bush doesn't care about
Black people." “Our plans now are to contact Kanye West and his management and
let them know the situation and environment of our campus and see if he would be
willing to understand our situation and fight and censor his music or if he
doesn’t censor he can make an announcement as to why he didn’t,” says
Jean-Louis. This week students plan to look for more steps to take to
receive a public apology from the paper. THERE'S A LOT TO TALK ABOUT HERE: Do you feel that rappers should stop using “nigger” in
rap music because of issues like this? Do you think this cartoon would have been
an issue if it was printed at a historically Black college campus or
in JET magazine? Would you have laughed at it or become offended?
Do you think Kanye West will censor his music at
UF? | ||||
