University Newspaper Pulls Article Because It Quoted Too Many White People – Opinion

Did you ever look through your high school annual and note that — by sheer coincidence — most of the candid photos featured members of the yearbook staff and their friends?

Perhaps Vassar College has experienced something similar in recent times.

The College Fix reported that there had been some controversy over Jeh Johnson (US Secretary of Homeland Security) earlier in the year.

Jeh had been scheduled to speak at this spring’s commencement but officially pulled out on Valentine’s Day.

Find out more about the Fix

[A February 17th article in The Miscellany News] detailed the decision…Johnson made to withdraw… …

Johnson, who is black, was accused by some students of committing “war crimes” for enforcing immigration laws on the U.S. southern border.

Calling immigration a “difficult and painful issue,” Johnson, who served during the second Obama administration, withdrew as a speaker…

That’s all well and good, but the February article itself was criminally problematic: It quoted too many white people.

The piece was thus completely pulled.

On March 23rd, the paper’s editors launched a massive mea culpa.

[T]he online version of the article has been pulled…by the Executive Board in concert with the News Editors. We would like to take this space to discuss the reasoning behind our decision and recognize the feelings of disappointment and hurt surrounding the article’s publication.

Crew members made it clear that the story had been rushed and Jeh was forced to cancel at press time.

About Caucasian corruption

[W]e attempted to include a variety of quotes from students describing why there was protest to the announcement of him as speaker in the first place, and the students’ reaction to his withdrawal.

“In prioritizing urgency over thoroughness,” the publication “made misguided and insensitive oversights with whom [it was] representing in the article and failed to provide in-depth reporting of the issue at large.”

The “at large” part is a matter of melanin:

We found that most of the quotations were from students of white race, so we kept students of color in a single, symbolic perspective.

It typifies America’s racism. Or at least the editors’:

The article in question exemplifies many structural and institutional problems found within our newspaper. The Miscellany News, like all journalism fields, has always been white-centric, often elitist.

What could have made them unknowingly racist due to the history of racism in media? Such isn’t spelled out.

It was aberrational:

We are reminded of both the systemic problems our board members are involved in and the privileges and lack thereof that have been allowed to continue for many generations. No explanations we can give for the shortcomings of a particular article will address the problems of previous coverage of issues related to people with disabilities, or the question of representation on our boards.

The editors concede that “consistent action must be taken in order to address the systemic problems within The Miscellany News.”

To admit there are “systemic” issues, as I understand it, is to say they’ve discovered overly racist mechanisms embedded into the outlet. It would be easy to simply identify them and remove them immediately.

They could also form a commission.

[W]We’ll work together to make both gradual and immediate steps. Our current work includes the creation of a review board to inspect quotes and sources in order to confirm their reliability and integrity. It will not be affiliated with the editorial board and will rotate through articles.

The editors took tremendous time composing their confession so as to “cover the gravity or complexity of the situation.”

The article was removed to “prevent further harm among the communities [they] misrepresented.”

They might not have been able to reach enough people in a hurry. If so, why wasn’t the web article simply adjusted?

Perhaps it’s because these are the days of epic apologies. Rather than correcting an error, it’s more en vogue to run from town while shouting “Unclean!”

But maybe I’m wrong.

No matter how you feel about it, you should ensure at least a few non-whites have been interviewed in order to be included in future Vassar articles. If you don’t, your name may not appear in print.

-ALEX

You can find more of my content here:

University Drops a Bomb: There Will Be No More ‘Office of Equity and Inclusion’

College Students Hold a ‘Die-In’ to Protest Their Own Freedom to Unmask

University Puts Freshmen Through ‘Equity’ Orientation, Schools Them on ‘Whitesplaining’

All my RedState works Here.

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