NIA takes a stand against blatant racism

NY PAPER PUBLISHES RACIST OBAMA PARODY
Read the parody, NiaOnline's complaint, and the newspaper's explanation

Boy, when the pundits said this presidential campaign is getting nasty with regard to the topics of race and gender, they weren't kidding. Yesterday blogger Eisa Nefertari Ulen sent this little tidbit our way. It's a horribly racist caricature of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama that was published in The Independent, a newspaper that claims to have the highest distribution of any local newspaper in Long Island, NY's East End (which includes The Hamptons).

The mock column, "Why I Should Be Our Next President," is written under the byline of a candidate named "Yo Mama Bin Barack" with Sen. Obama's smiling face next to it. Portrayed as a racially-confused buffoon who is trying to be Black, Yo Mama Bin Barack says things such as, "Ultimately, if [Hillary Clinton] gets too close, one of my New York advisors has advised me to, 'Bitch slap that ho.' White women, I am told, like that," and "We be, you know, sick of whitey supressin' and congestin' so, you know, we won't denigrate or sophisticate but emulate and populate, you know, the system is, like, broken, y'all!" This, for the edification of the East End's elite populace (as well as the online masses, since a version of the parody was posted in the paper's online edition).

NiaOnline contacted the The Independent on Jan. 23 to express our outrage and ask for an explanation. The editor-in-chief and co-publisher of the newspaper, Rick Murphy, sent us a letter of apology the next morning and said that no one had put him up to it. The Independent also took down the online version and posted an apology.

Read on to see a copy of the column that we made before it was taken down. You'll also see NiaOnline's letter to The Independent, as well as the newspaper's apology to NiaOnline.

Many people believe that overt racism is all but dead in our country, and that the real enemies now are institutional racism and "the soft bigotry of low expectations." There is also a popular view that if the media would just stop talking about the role of race in this campaign, we could just focus on "the issues." Call this a cold splash of water in the face of those notions. Good, old-fashioned, overt racism is alive and well, and hard at work in this campaign and in our 21st century lives. Share that cold splash with as many people as you can, by bookmarking this page and passing the web link on to as many people as you can. Contact The Independent too, and let them know what you think of their little joke. It's time to wake up.

Low Tidings: "Why I Should Be Our Next President"

NiaOnline's letter to The Independent

The Independent's letter of apology to NiaOnline

Messrs. Murphy and Mackin:

A colleague of mine posted a link on her blog to your recent Low Tidings column, "Why I Should Be Our Next President." Clearly, this mock column by "Yo Mama Bin Barack" was an attempt to satirize presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.

Political satire has a long and venerable history in our country, grounded in our right to free speech and the necessity to keep humble the powers that be. However, satire is defined by Merriam-Webster's as "trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly." There is absolutely nothing trenchant, witty, or the least bit informed about the crude, venomous, bigoted and tasteless caricature of Senator Obama that you published. It also does nothing to expose anything credible about him. Any decent human being, regardless of race or party affiliation, would find it to be offensive.

Granted, you have the right to publish whatever you want. The public also has the right to let you and your advertisers know, through their words and wallets, when they consider your speech to be hostile and demeaning. Perhaps you think that publishing racist columns won't affect your bottom line out on the East End of Long Island. It would be folly to assume that.

I represent a multicultural readership of thousands of educated and politically aware women across the country. Before putting this matter to our readers and our colleagues on the media, we would like to know why you decided to publish the column. Who wrote it? Perhaps this is all a hoax?

Sheryl Huggins
Vice President of Information Services, Nia Enterprises and Editor-in-Chief, NiaOnline

Hi Sheryl:

I am personally acknowledging that this failed attempt at satire was a terrible lapse in judgment. As a co-owner and co-publisher, I can tell you no one is putting me up to this. I am sincerely sorry I have offended you. I can't explain why I chose to write the column [but I want] to assure you that we are a multicultural employer with a long history of diversity. In fact, our highest paid employer [sic] happens to be a man of color. That said, there was no excuse for the column and I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me.

Rick Murphy
Editor-in-Chief, The Independent