The following is the full text of a letter, sent Monday night, from Black Student Union president Candace Lee '06 to the editor and staff of The Princeton Tiger. Copies will be sent to the Tiger's graduate board and President Tilghman; Janet Dickerson, vice president of campus life; Kathleen Deignan, dean of undergraduate students; Makeba Clay, director of the Fields Center; Rachel Baldwin, assistant dean of undergraduate students; and Tom Dunne, associate director of undergraduate students.
Dear Mark Daniels and writers for The Princeton Tiger,
It is with a great feeling of disappointment that I am writing this letter. I am disappointed that there are still some people on this campus who remain unaware or uncaring as to the effect that their words can have on others. I am disappointed that these people are in positions to widely disseminate feelings/ideas that are not merely controversial, but absolutely offensive and hurtful. Lastly, I am disappointed that whatever screening mechanisms exist at The Princeton Tiger were not sufficient to catch a published instance of such problematic ideas which were found in a recent article.
The February 2005 edition of The Princeton Tiger contained an article that describes Facebook groups that the writers "hope to never see". Among them is a group entitled "People who are going to the national KKK meeting...because they spit hot fiya." Included in this article was what appears to be a picture of an actual KKK rally. This photo includes the burning cross, white robes and pointed hoods typically associated with Ku Klux Klan members. The group description is as follows: "I hope everyone is excited for the meeting! WOOt! If you need a ride to Georgia, the SVC is lending us a car—meet outside Baker Rink if you're coming! Cya'll!!"
It is my 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. I should point out, however, that the existence of the KKK and their message of hate is not purely historical, as the organization still exists both nationally and internationally. The person(s) who wrote this article may have thought that putting humorous spin on a very real source of pain and discomfort would be funny. In addition, it seems these individuals believed that using the real thefacebook.com group for the Black Arts Company as a model for their imaginary KKK Facebook group would add to the comedy. This decision, which sacrificed tasteful humor in exchange for insensitive derision, was a mistake on the part of the authors. It was an error in judgment to allow this article to run in its current form. 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. And while I appreciate the necessary right of free speech, I equally support the need to take responsibility for actions that affect others in negative ways.
As you know, this article evoked presence of a terrorist organization which targets (among other groups) African-Americans. Using an African-American dance company's Facebook group was taking joke that was already in very poor taste and then adding insult to injury. The result is that it caused many black students to feel targeted and attacked. A reader of your publication who happens to be a member of BAC remarked, "Reading the list made it very apparent to me that either the Tiger doesn't realize that their magazine is being read by every part of the campus, including blacks, or doesn't care. I understood it was all in fun for them, but being so left out of the considered audience while being simultaneously mocked really is frustrating."
One of the goals of the Black Student Union is to foster community and to be a support system for Black students here at Princeton. Tied very closely to this goal is our desire to help make Princeton a more welcoming and inclusive environment for minority students. This is not necessarily an easy task and if you have read the results of the USG Race Survey, I'm sure that you understand why this is so. When your publication prints articles like this, it both counters and undermines the efforts of our group and other groups similarly committed to making Princeton the best it can be for all students. We hope that you will take this letter seriously and that insight contained herein will influence future decisions regarding which articles should be published.
Sincerely, Candace Lee
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