University of Florida Faculty Senate

Resolution Condemning Florida Alligator Cartoon

September 22, 2005

Whereas: the cartoon printed in the Independent Florida Alligator of September 13, 2005, depicting Kanye West and Condoleeza Rice, demonstrates bad taste and bad judgment in excess of acceptable norms of social conduct;

And whereas: an appeal to comic intention can never justify the racist effects of inflammatory caricatures and language;

And whereas: this is not an issue of free speech, but of respect for diversity and all members of the university community;

And whereas: public communication carries with it an equal measure of public responsibility;

Therefore be it resolved: that the Faculty Senate condemns said cartoon and demands that the editors of the Independent Florida Alligator publicly apologize, in print, in good faith, in a prominent font and on the front page, for their bad judgment and its corrosive effects on the university community.