Sugar-coating social commentary
In today's opinion section, a cartoon by Matthew King got some response. The response that we received within The Daily Mississippian was minimal, however: only seven responses.
That's one blog post, one online comment, two video responses, two telephone calls and a copy of the cartoon with comments written on it. No response was sent to dmeditor@gmail.com, which is where we take all responses to any of our content. This is clearly stated on the opinion page in which the cartoon was placed, and not one reader responded.
With a report from WTVA in Tupelo in tonight's news and a segment on NewsWatch, we felt a little like it was blown up, and did not appropriately account for the response that we received.
I still felt it appropriate to compose some sort of comment, because WTVA left before I had a chance to comment, and because when NewsWatch aired I had not yet talked to King.
Our editorial process consists of a number of steps. First, our opinion editor receives the cartoons. She goes through, determines whether she thinks they are OK to run, and then puts them on the server. As editor, I have the final say as to whether they run.
In this case, I felt that it was a strong opinion-- one that could potentially be offensive, but one that brought up two things that columnists avoid approaching. One, we're getting a new mascot in the first place to avoid coming off as racist. It's an embarrassing situation to begin with to have to retire a mascot, wait seven years, and then try to choose a new one.
The second is that he poked fun at all of the Lebron hype. Everything is Lebron-related these days, even after he decided to go with the Heat. It seems that most sports channels have covered him as extensively as possible, and that we might as well put a crown on his head.
This opinion was satire: obviously, we would not choose Lebron James to be our mascot, in the same way we wouldn't choose Ackbar (well, most of us).
The responses that we got, I think, had to do with a fear. A fear to be seen as racist once more. In order to get past that, we can't pretend it never existed. Colonel Reb didn't disappear overnight (or over the course of 7 years and countless Save Colonel Reb stickers, either), and nor will the stigma of racism.
The first step, though, is to recognize that it exists. I don't think that the cartoon had to do with race as much as it did with Lebron, and poking fun at our mascot situation. I think it had more to do with people being afraid-- people assuming that because it mentioned race that it was racist.
As students, as Mississippians, as members of a global society, we must discern what is offensive and what is not. We also have to find our way in the world, and fully realize our beliefs. To get there, though, is not to sugar-coat things. It will not end anything.
For the cartoon, it stands as an opinion-- and just that. King's opinion, and not that of The Daily Mississippian staff, or of the University of Mississippi.
As editor, however, I plan to carefully choose what goes in the newspaper. If it makes people think, I want it in there. I will not run something solely to offend someone, or to single out anyone.
But if it is something that pokes fun at something relevant, I think that it does serve a purpose in provoking conversation and getting the community to talk, to have a response and to participate, thereby creating the things that we're known for.
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