By Sarah Jacques
Round Table editor
A racist advertisement found in the Northern Kentucky University newspaper, “The Northerner,” has sparked outrage amongst the NKU students.
The advertisement, which directs students to a website containing music with neo-Nazi and white supremacist themes, has both maddened and confused the young adults, who previously thought their school wished to promote diversity.
The school and the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Tim Owens have claimed that the ad was too vague to call attention to the contained racism and have publicly announced that they don’t agree or wish to promote the advertisement. “The Northerner” will not accept the advertisement anymore. An apology will be issued in this week’s paper with a hole where the advertisement previously was printed.
How could “The Northerner” have been so careless? Yes, this was an honest mistake, which any newspaper could have made. But it seems like a vague advertisement featuring unknown music would be just the sort of item that would scream sketchy.
Even if the advertisement had been less vague, the site still should have been observed before the advertisement was added to the newspaper.
If an advertisement contains music unknown by most of the population, not only could it be offensive to minorities, but it could possibly also contain vulgar language and graphic details. The newspaper should be concerned about its reputation enough to want to investigate advertisements that could falsely and negatively reflect the paper’s image.
The most important issue brought from this, however, is how many people have been offended. NKU has been promoting diversity, and a negative advertisement like this has shocked and disgusted the students.
Some students don’t agree with the racist remarks of the music contained on the site but believe the advertisers have the same right to free speech as any other advertisement would.
Everyone deserves free speech, but if the remarks made imply hatred toward a minority that offends both them and most of the rest of the population, should the words still be spoken – or, in this case, printed?
The one comforting thing to come from this case was how the NKU students were brought together, united by their disgust of the racist ideals printed in their newspaper. The students have learned the lesson their forefathers chose to ignore – that everyone is equal, regardless of race – and have gathered together, defending the offended minority students.
Racism, though not as prominent as it once was, unfortunately still exists in the world today. But alongside the intolerable and bigoted causes exist people who will fight for the respect of minority races, who see the truth – all people are equal, and neo-Nazism and white supremacy promote nothing but hate.
