Posted on 04/16/2005 7:02:58 AM PDT by bourbon
An advertisement that ran in today’s print edition of The Daily Mississippian contained a racist message.
The ad (pictured at left) was paid for by the New Century Group and promotes American Renaissance, a monthly magazine launched in 1991 that espouses incendiary views about immigration and race relations.
The Daily Mississippian advertising staff will include a retraction and apology for the advertisement in Monday’s edition of the paper.
Melanie Wadkins, advertising manager for the S. Gale Denley Student Media Center, said American Renaissance will be refunded the $220.50 paid for the three-column, 10 inch ad.
Wadkins, who is the staff adviser for the SMC advertising staff, said she does not make decisions concerning advertising content. That responsibility lies with the student employees.
“Everything submitted to the paper is supposed to be looked at by the student staff,” Wadkins said. “In this case, it wasn’t.
“After the ad came in by e-mail, no student on staff raised a question or concern in the course of producing it. I generally refer questionable ads to the editor for approval. This was not brought to my attention at all,” Wadkins said. “It was an honest mistake; it certainly was not intentional.”
Advertising representative Ronald Odom, a senior journalism major from Bartlett, Tenn., was contacted via telephone Wednesday by a representative of the Oakland, Va.-based American Renaissance.
Although the policy is for advertising representatives to proof the ads they sell, Odom said he did not see the ad before it ran today.
“With pre-made ads, there’s really not a lot of proofing because the customer sends it the way they want it,” Odom said. “It just kind of snuck through the cracks between advertising, creative services, editorial and into the paper. I’m sure if someone had read it, it would have definitely been taken care of ahead of time.”
The Daily Mississippian Editor, Emery Carrington, said the advertising staff has consulted with her in the past regarding potentially inflammatory ads, but she was not contacted in this case.
“Editorial and advertising are separate entities; the editorial staff does not like being tied up with the money-making aspect of the newspaper because we want to keep our news and other stories free of bias,” Carrington said. “We do not like the intermixing of advertising and editorial departments of the newspaper and keep them separate as possible.
“This ad’s message was completely unacceptable and is something that The Daily Mississippian staff does not condone, believe in or support,” Carrington said. “During the final process of sending the paper to press, I did not read the ad. I do not usually read ad copy when I’m putting the newspaper to bed.
“At the same time, I’m disappointed that I didn’t read over this because it is unacceptable content that the public will understandably take as offensive and assume that it was approved by us.”
Carrington said The Daily Mississippian staff does not agree with the message contained in the ad.
“We have repeatedly spoken out against hate and racism in this newspaper,” Carrington said.
“I think this university has come a long way and has become intolerant of messages such as those that American Renaissance spreads. The university, the newspaper and the administration do not condone it. I hope the readers will understand that this message would have never appeared in our newspaper under normal circumstances.”
Odom also said the advertisement does not reflect his attitudes or those of his colleagues.
“The staff at The Daily Mississippian is a very diverse group, and we have grown to be a family," Odom said. "This ad does not reflect the relationships we share with each other as a diverse group of students."
Wadkins said she agreed.
“I’m very disappointed, and I’m sorry that it ran because it’s extremely inflammatory and it doesn’t reflect the views of anyone who works here,” Wadkins said. “The ad and its message offend me greatly.”
Odom spoke against the message contained in the ad.
“Being an African American student at the university who appreciates the progress we have made from our past, I am offended that this organization would place an ad in our paper to influence the thoughts of our community and try to undo the advancements we have made in race relations,” Odom said.
“Different racial groups are not the cause of friction. The cause of friction in the community are people who call themselves Americans but truly do not agree with our constitution in regards to freedom and the laws about immigration. The U.S. did not become the strongest country in the world by adopting closed-minded views.”
"Were it sufficient for people to be just Americans this country would be better off."
AMEN!
Very well said.
"I just think it is funny that a liberal student newspaper ran this racist ad b/c the paper's slacker staff was too lazy to read their ad copy before sending it to press."
Funny...but typical. ;o)
and what exactly does THAT have to to with printing it?
Groups like American Renaissance go WAY beyond being critical of illegal immigration.They are akin to the White Citizen's Councils and David Duke neo-Nazi nut case organizations.Their speakers have an anti-Jewish and anti-black bias that goes way beyond conventional conservative philosophy and I hate to see AR and groups of their ilk defended on this forum.
Makes us look really bad similiar to those on the Left who try to justify Islamic terrorism by pointing out something"we"did years ago.
Wrong,just plain wrong.
The ad was certainly not politically correct.
And since the goal of political correctness is to inhibit speech, limit discussion topics, and foist upon everyone an irrational, emotional self-limiting vernacular, then the ad has to go.
"Our diversity is our strength." "We are a multicultural society." And don't you dare question it.
PC über alles!
Political correctness ha neutered conservatives for the most part.
And the Dems of course long for the day this ad refers to.
So that just leaves racists like me...lol
Well some of us have pride in who we are and where we came from. I have great pride in some of my ancestors and their accomplishments. Any Texan worth his salt has great pride in his geographic heritage. That does not preclude one from having pride in other things.
Maybe not but they each promote their GROUP politics and DIVERSITY at the expense of others (whites) with impunity. All I'm saying is that for some reason if whites attempt to do the same it is decried as racism.
Well, if I was from New York maybe I wouldn't be proud of where I was from. However, Texans almost to a man take more pride in being a Texan than in being an American.
"When whites try to do the same it is decried as racism"
What you neglect to point out that until quite recently white was the "norm"and, at least where I grew up, anything and everything that mattered in the world,according to parents and teachers,was of European origin.I think many minority groups and their identity politics is a way of compensating-or maybe OVER compensating- for the skewered emphasis from years past.
Its a phase that will eventually pass and I think if you ask the average black or Latino kid,racial pride isn't exactly on their priority of Things that Matter.
Unlike you I have pride in my reading ability.
I graduated from Ole Miss in 2001. Regardless of the content of the add the Daily Pravda is a left wing rag, with shotty writing and research.
My dad was enamored of cowboy culture and used to tell people he was from Texas. I like New York, just not Lawn Guyland too much as its too boring for words.
You are right about the democrats. I do not think you are a racist though :-)
Well, WD. I guess we'll have to disagree on this one.
I do think the ad is racist, in part for what it says but mostly b/c of what it is trying to sell--the pernicious ideas of American Renaissance.
If a similar ad from a non-racist organization decried the influence of multiculturalism and unregulated/illegal immigration on American culture more generally, I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Indeed, I have made many similar comments on this forum.
However, this ad is clearly targeted at "whites only." I mean, can you imagine any non-white person reading that advertisement and thinking, "Yeah, that's the ticket!?" For the life of me, I can't.
Furthermore, this ad overlooks powerful race-neutral ideals to make a direct appeal to White Nationalism. I happen to find this pretty offensive, especially considering AR's naked attempt to win followers among current Ole Miss students.
People like Jared Taylor and Sam Francis are modern day legatees of Theodore Bilbo and Sam Bowers. Those folks have already brought our state (MS) enough trouble, and I will gladly fight their attempts to reestablish a foothold here.
I just wonder why it's not racist to applaud the diminishment of the evil "white" gene pool but it is racist to wonder if that's a good thing.
That's a really good point. I have actually thought about that for some time now.
My beef is not so much w/ the statement that a future white minority in the U.S. is a 'bad thing.' I just have a problem with the reasons why AR thinks it is a 'bad thing.' AR's answer is (roughly) that white people, thanks to superior genetics, are responsible for what makes America great. Conversely, AR believes that most non-whites (conveniently excluding Asians), thanks to their inferior genetics, are responsible for the sad-sack state of affairs in the Third World. I just don't believe that at all.
Now, it is true that the founding ideals of the US were first generated by white Christian men. That's a historical fact, and I don't see how anyone can really argue with that. Furthermore, it is also a fact that these ideals (not surprisingly) are presently best preserved among whites in this country. Because of this fact, I think conservatives (white and non-white, think Michelle Malkin) are right to be concerned about the prospect of an "invasion" of Third World immigrants and non-immigrants which could make those who believe in traditional American ideals a minority in the country of their birth. Similarly, the many liberals who cheer at the prospect of a coming white minority usually do so only b/c they dislike traditional American ideals.
But there is a key distinction here. The orthodox conservative line is that conservatives should be concerned about the twilight of conservative ideals, regardless of the race of those who believe in these ideals. OTOH, AR and other groups concern themselves only with race, thus betraying the universal character of the ideals of America's Founding. In short, race is the main ideal of AR and, more broadly, White Nationalism. In contradistinction, the ideals of most conservatives in the U.S. are race-neutral, and I believe conservatives should make every effort to keep their ideals strictly race-neutral. Not only is this the "polite" thing to do, but it is also necessary to give the full effect and meaning to universal character of those ideals (e.g. for the U.S. to be the proverbial "City on a Hill").
It is crucial to remember that there are significant numbers of non-whites (think Michelle Malkin, Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell, J.C. Watts, Bobby Jindal, Elaine Chao, Condi, Alan Keyes, etc.) who now subscribe to conservative ideals. It is also important to realize that AR frankly doesn't give a whit about these people. In fact, they probably resent them insofar as they provide a powerful and visible rebuke to their racist ideology.
To AR et al., the main political objective will always be protecting white nationhood and racial purity from attack. They do not seek the preservation and propagation of the ideals which have made America great. If they did, then they would care about demonstrating how these ideals can be transferred across racial and cultural lines and to show how these ideals are in tune with natural law instead of particularized racial identities.
At bottom, AR could care less about the American project of attempting to secure freedom and justice for the oppressed in the U.S. or abroad. Their only goal is to fortify "White America" agains all manner of "assault."
By contrast, the goal of all conservatices should be to explain how the ideals which were born in a largely white country should be adopted by other people who neither share our past nor our genetic makeup. For groups like AR to make an appeal to "whites only" is not only racist; it is shortsighted and it will ultimately lead to the betrayal and the destruction of conservative ideals. Most importantly, it is not moral, and it is not a serious strategy for victory against tyranny.
I agree that liberals are pretty knee jerk but most of the groups that say they are for white pride aren't forthright about their motives. It's pretty interesting because I know a lot of immigrants who think American is a catch all phrase for everyone. Americans aren't ethnic imho.
thanks...I was joking.
and I only care when my friends call me racist...so thanks again.
;>)
good post...I think that groups like the Minute Men are great because they're open to everyone united in one cause. Which is how it should be. I don't know why regular groups leave it to folks like Jared Taylor to point out the illegal entry problem.
I'm not proud of being white. It's a skin color. No more, no less. There's a lot of differences among whites (as there are Asians, American Indian tribes, Blacks, East Indiana, and others)
It's stupid for one to be proud of one's race - any color.
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