BSU objects to Klan joke in Tiger Magazine

Another controversy has broken out about a campus publication's humor.

Offended by a reference to the Ku Klux Klan in the February issue of the campus humor journal Tiger Magazine, members of the Black Student Union (BSU) are sending letters expressing outrage to the magazine's editors, graduate board and University administrators.

Just last week, the Nassau Weekly apologized for a facetious list related to the Holocaust that some readers found offensive.

The Tiger, which does not receive University funds, satirized the group feature of the popular website TheFacebook.com in a piece titled, "Facebook Groups You Hope to Never See." One entry read, "People who are going to the national KKK meeting . . . because they spit hot fiya!"

The fictitious group's description, which appeared to include a picture of a burning cross and a Ku Klux Klan member, noted, "If you need a ride to Georgia, the SVC [Student Volunteers Council] is lending us a car — meet outside Baker Rink if you're coming!"

In the letter to the Tiger editors, BSU president Candace Lee '06 wrote that it is her "assumption that this was a grossly misguided attempt at humor, instead of a maliciously motivated calling forth of very painful experiences in the history of African-Americans in this country." She said, "This judgment error is unacceptable because of the hostile environment that it creates for black students, even if this was not the intention of the writers."

The Tiger Magazine editorial board responded to the BSU's complaints by saying in a statement that while the magazine values the opinions of the student body, the BSU "chose to misinterpret the article in our publication."

"Maybe we should follow the BSU's lead and confront such real Facebook groups as 'Woman? Fine By Me!' and 'The Elders of Zion,'" the statement said. "We could go so far as to be offended at their names without looking below the surface; alternatively, we could take humor as humor and keep outrage in check."

In an interview Monday, Lee said that the Tiger's feature is "indicative of a trend they've been following for some time." She said student publications' and other student groups' use of black students as objects for humor is counterproductive to efforts to make the University an inclusive environment.

"Making fun of it really isn't funny and it's hurtful," Lee said. "The environment it creates for black students — it feels very hostile and very unwelcoming, which is the exact opposite of what we on campus are trying to foster for black students on campus."

The Tiger editors, who released their statement in response to the BSU's, took issue with the BSU's assertion that it is a group committed to fostering "an inclusive environment for minority students."

"We are troubled by their instinct to divide," read the Tiger statement. "It is disturbing that the BSU's first impulse was to take a joke which targeted no particular race and mutate it into an affront against the African-American experience. Perhaps the BSU should consider that their response contributes to racial divisions on our campus, rather than dismantling them."

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In response to questions from The Daily Princetonian, the Tiger editorial staff said in an email that they do not regret publishing the piece and that they have received mostly positive feedback for it. They added that it should have been clear that "we were mocking the perpetrators of horrible acts, and would not mock their victims."

"It has practically become stylish to take offense at the drop of a pin," the group said. "We are evolving slowly into a society afraid of its own shadow . . . We are becoming a country that finds it normal to overreact, and we are saddened that the BSU has fallen into the American trap."

The BSU letter to the Tiger editors is the product of a weekend's worth of consultation with several BSU members, Lee said. The issue was first brought to the organization's attention at its general membership meeting on Friday.

Over the weekend, Lee said she solicited feedback from students on the organization's email list, where it was suggested that the BSU officers submit editorials to various campus publications for consideration.

"The goal of the editorial is to speak to the general trend — this isn't the first time," Lee said, noting that she has found previous material in the Tiger and other publications offensive.

"I think you could probably see it as Princeton student publications not taking seriously the effect of their words," Lee said. "We've reached the limit of what we feel like we should have to accept, being the brunt of people's jokes."

Lee said she and her membership are particularly disappointed that the offensive material was published in February, which is Black History Month, and just a week after a USG committee released its Survey on Race and Campus Life.

"We were hoping that after this race survey that we would start making strides," Lee said. "Then this happened and now we're back to square one."

The survey found racial and ethnic self-segregation to be pervasive on campus, and that black students are significantly more likely to feel less integrated into the campus community. On Sunday, the USG announced the creation of a committee to propose policy solutions to the issues highlighted in the Survey on Race and Campus Life.

Editor's note: The unedited full text of statements from the Black Student Union and the Tiger Magazine are available online: BSU letter, Tiger statement.