Notre Dame shows its true colors

The editors of The Observer would like to publicly apologize for the publication of The Mobile Party in the Jan. 13 edition. The burden of responsibility ultimately lies on us for allowing it to go to print.
There is no excuse that can be given and nothing that can be said to reverse the damage that has already been done by this egregious error in judgment.
The Observer, though an independent newspaper, is representative of the community of the University of Notre Dame and the values it so cherishes: family, understanding, service, respect and love.
Allowing this cruel and hateful comic a place on our pages disgraced those values and severely hurt members of our Notre Dame family our classmates, our friends. For this, we sincerely apologize.
Unfortunately, the language of hate is an everyday reality in our society. Earlier this week, surprising comments made by Sen. Harry Reid about President Barack Obama’s accent and skin color were made public and caused uproar. Now, at Notre Dame, a comic strip including hurtful language was printed in this publication, also causing and rightly so serious concern. It becomes clear that hurtful language is still present among some circles, and, too often, it’s not until comments like these become public that their true hatred is acknowledged.
The truth is, these comments should not be made at all, and we will not allow our pages to be a forum for such hatred. Publishing commentary that seems to encourage or support hate against fellow human beings is inexcusable.
We must, however more forward, and look to promote instead a culture of acceptance and support for all.
The Office of Student Affairs and the Gender Relations Center, as well as student groups like the Core Council for Gay and Lesbian Students, have worked tirelessly to foster an educated community and an environment of acceptance and love. We would ask that those currently working toward ending discourses of hate on campus continue to do so. We greatly thank you for your tireless effort.
On our part, we must practice more responsible journalism and editing. That this comic was published reveals holes in our editing practices, which are currently being addressed.
In reevaluating our policies, we hope to ensure The Observer will be able to recover from this low point in its almost 50-year history and once again be able to serve the Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s community with the dignity it deserves.
We would like to thank all of those who have called, e-mailed, written and visited our offices this week in outrage.
The content of The Mobile Party is in no way representative of the views and opinions of The Observer or the Editorial Board. We hope that as we work together to address this serious issue, we will be able to regain your trust.
We vow to continue to represent the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College in a way that is respectful and accepting of each member of our community.

Apart from the bizarre reference to Sen Reid's comments about President Obama, it strikes me as sincere, but hardly sufficient.

However, I do feel that they did go a tat overboard on this one. Yes, I did find the comic slightly funny. But a split second after the humor, the fact of violence dawned on me. Perhaps I'm too sensitive about this.

Anyway, personally, I don't think they were obligated to apologize. Just being PC, I guess.

onifre writes:I agree. The PC cops are turning everyone into an apologizing puss.

oni writes:Please... fuck that. So now they want to tell you how to think and what to say?

Apart from the bizarre reference to Sen Reid's comments about President Obama, it strikes me as sincere, but hardly sufficient.

Free speech doesn't mean free from repercussions. If you say something offensive to someone, that someone has the right to criticize you for it.

the bizarre reference to Sen Reid's comments about President Obama

Reid's defenders don't have much to work with. Their best idea so far is that at least he said "Negro" and not "Nigra."Liberals are saying that since Reid was pointing out Obama's pale hue in support of his run for the presidency, it was OK to praise his skin color and non-Negro dialect. (Reid is denying reports that in 2007 he said to Obama: "You should run. You people are good at that.")

Democrats couldn't win an election without the black vote, but the Democratic Party keeps treating blacks like stage props, wheeling them out for photo-ops and marches now and then but almost never putting them in charge of anything important.President Bush appointed the first black secretary of state and then the first black female secretary of state. Meanwhile, the closest black woman to Bill Clinton was his secretary, Betty Currie.The one sitting black Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, was appointed by a Republican.The head of the Republican National Committee is black -- medium-skinned, but liberals treated Michael Steele like a dark-skinned black when they threw Oreo cookies at him during the Maryland gubernatorial campaign in 2002.After the 2000 election, Democrats had a chance to make one of the rare smart Democrats, Donna Brazile, head of the Democratic National Committee. Brazile had just run a perfectly respectable campaign on behalf of that bumbling buffoon Al Gore.She also happens to be black. Again, blacks give 90 percent of their votes to the Democrats.But the Democrats skipped over Brazile and handed the DNC chairmanship to the goofy white guy in lime green pants, Howard Dean.

And here's some irony:

If the Observer has established a reputation for a high level of temperance and quality that readers have come to expect then I suppose the apology makes sense.

But if the apology is just a reaction to the reaction then of course the insincerity is what's really offensive.

If you say something offensive to someone, that someone has the right to criticize you for it.

Yes, they do. So what? Isn't that exactly what you are doing?

In an ideal world, I would expect an institution that purports to preach love to condemn hateful speech against anyone. Of course, that's never really been what the Catholic Church has been about.