A newspaper that’s based in the Manhattan borough of New York City, West Village, has sent shockwaves through the community with a Monday headline that references the “N-word” in the White House — only spells it out.
As shocking as the headline is, however, the story itself by James Lincoln Collier is pro-President Obama, the New York Post said. It’s titled “The [N-word] in the White House” and blares across Page 15 in the opinion section, above text that then blasts the “racism” of far-right voters against Mr. Obama.
Despite the pro-president message, West Villages were outraged, the New York Post reported.
People were interested in these podcasts
“It’s disrespectful in any context to refer to the president of the United States as the N-word,” said one local resident, Eugene May, in the New York Post. “If you were quoting something or referring to the historic context of the word being used, I can understand the justification. … It seems [the writer] is just using it for shock value.”
Another reader, Joe Megie, who described himself as a “black Republican,” also condemned the headline, calling it “sad,” the New York Post reported.
The newspaper’s 86-year-old editor, George Capsis, said in a written explanation that “the editorial staff continues to object” to use of the racial slur, the New York Post reported. “In this article, however, [the writer] reminded me that The New York Times avoids using the word, which convinced me that West View should. [Collier] wanted to use the word [to] shock us into accepting that there are people who believe and use this outrageous word.”
Mr. Collier opined in his piece that “far-right voters hate Obama because he is black,” the New York Post reported. He also wrote: “The simple truth is that there is still in America an irreducible measure of racism” and that “America’s increasing tolerance of far-right opinion has made racism more acceptable.”
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.