NEWSPAPER RUNS HEADLINE REFERRING TO
PRESIDENT OBAMA AS N-WORD
NEW YORK, NY - A local paper is making national headlines thanks to a questionable word choice
in one of its own news headlines. The West View News, a monthly paper in New York’s West Village
with a circulation of around 20,000, ran an op-ed from author James Lincoln Collier titled “N----r
in the White House.”
If the headline wasn't strange and shocking enough, the New York Post reports that the op-ed is
actually a pro-Obama piece, in which Collier argues that, "far right voters hate Obama because he
is black." The Post included a photo of the article headline in its piece with the offending language
blurred out.
The West View News ran an opposing view column below Collier’s piece by African American
columnist Alvin Hall titled, "This headline offends me."
It’s not the first time Collier, 86, has stoked controversy through his use of the N-word in
publication. His 1981 historical novel Jump Ship to Freedom (co-written with his brother) uses
the word repeatedly in its text. It was reportedly taken down from the shelves from several
libraries over the years.
So, why did the paper decide to run a headline with such a controversial, and many might
say, unnecessary, word choice? It might just come down to little more than a strange case of
journalistic rivalry. West View News editor George Capsis says Collier convinced him to use the
word over objections from the paper’s editorial staff.
“In this article, however, Jim reminded me that the New York Times avoids using the word which
convinced me that West View should,” Capsis says in an explanation published in the paper and
reported by The Post. The West View News has not formally responded to questions about the
editorial and did not run a copy of it on its website.
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SPECTACULAR MAGAZINE | July 2014 | www.spectacularmag.com