A local community newspaper in New York is receiving intense criticism for an article about Barack Obama entitled “The N*gger In The White House.” Of course, the WestView News didn’t have an asterisk in their title; they actually spelled out the racial slur.
The WestView News is a small paper and self-proclaimed “voice of West Village.” For those unfamiliar with New York, West Village is a neighborhood in Manhattan bordered by the Hudson River, 6th Street, 14th Street, and Houston Street.
The article is actually pro-Barack Obama and is designed to criticize Republican opposition to Barack Obama’s presidency, suggesting — as many do — that opposition to Barack Obama or his policies is inherently racist.
The WestView News publisher had this to say about his choice to allow his writer to use “n*gger” in an introduction to the article:
“Jim Callier (the writer)…is a straight talking man, so when a few months ago he wanted to use the word n*gger in an article to shock us into accepting that there still are people who believe and use this outrageous word, our editorial staff took collective objection and we did not print it. The editorial staff continues to object. In this article however Jim reminded me that the New York Times avoids using the word which convinced me that WestView should.”
In other words, the small paper ought to use n*gger in its headlines because the big paper won’t.
The main thrust of the article is the idea that Eric Cantor was defeated in his primary election solely because far right Republicans managed to paint him as being pro-Barack Obama. The article downplays the fact that Republicans by and large oppose illegal immigration and that the issue of amnesty for illegal immigrants was the major issue most Republican primary voters cited when tossing Cantor out of office.
Like many who fail to see any nuance in politics, Jim Callier seems to be convinced that Barack Obama’s skin color is the one and only rub for anyone who opposes Obama on anything. It makes me wonder where this guy’s head was 10, 20, 30 years ago when conservative Republicans were opposing illegal immigration, to say nothing of abortion, socialist national medical programs, or any other number of initiatives which the more liberal among us are apparently convinced that Republicans would jump at the chance to support if only there weren’t a “n*gger in the White House.”
Republicans have not changed their platform simply because a black man is president. The vast majority of them are much more concerned that a Democrat is president.
Let’s be clear. There are racists among Republicans. News flash: There are some among Democrats as well. There are undoubtedly Republicans who would use the N-word to describe Barack Obama, though it’s doubtful any of them — or at least the journalists or public personalities among their ranks — would do so publicly. Rush Limbaugh doesn’t even go that far.
However, it’s clear that Barack Obama is not unaccustomed to having this word used about him. Jesse Jackson once used it to describe him. According to a report in News Bleat , Black Muslims famously referred to him as a “house n*gger.” And now, a (and I use this term loosely) legitimate journalist and newspaper have referred to Barack Obama as a n*gger.
Could it be that liberals don’t understand that it’s inappropriate to use that word? Let’s hope they don’t actually see Barack Obama as a n*gger… most Republicans don’t. Most Republicans see Barack Obama as a formidable opponent.
What do you think? Is it appropriate to call Barack Obama, the President of the United States, a n*gger in a newspaper headline — even to make a point?