The
INDEPENDENT Alligator Controversy (IAC) Document Collection
Updated November 19, 2006 (updates available at new site location: http://www.professorevans.com/IAC%20Papers.asp )
Below are the over 50
documents related to University of Florida
controversy
around the insensitive reporting and racist cartoons of the Independent
Alligator (IA) student newspaper. Though the paper is "independently"
funded,
campus and community advertising forms its financial base and a boycott
was successfully organized to hold the paper accountable for its
offensive reporting and racist editorializing. In addtion to editorials
of apology, the paper has responded with a call for a TOWN HALL MEETING for
November 2, 2006.
During the Spring 2006
semester, the Independent Alligator
made strides to connect with a broader base of students. However, the
coalition
demands were not met, and the cartoonist regained his position. In the
Fall 2006 semester, the cartoonist was replaced and new editors
signaled a new direction for the paper.
It
remains to be seen what the longterm
agenda of the IA will bring. With the activism and broad support
for the
IA Coalition, it is clear is that, thought independently funded, the
paper is
indeed accountable to the UF campus community, the Gainesville
community, and
the Gator Nation at large.
This archive
serves as a sobering account of
the cost of
ignorance. As I stated in one of my original letters, history
vindicates the just. Let us hope that what this year's
editors see fit to print is
actually what their many - diverse - constituencies determine is fit to
read.
GO GATORS!
Chain
of Events and Insensitive
Reporting, Letters by
Angelique Nixon
Coalition
against The Independent Florida Alligator - Boycott Letter
Call
to Protest - January 20th
Hurricane
Katrina Relief Efforts - How to Help
The coalition,
representing a wide
cross-section of
people who have historically been targets of the paper, demands a
proper and professional apology. The demands also
include that the staff learn about diversity issues necessary to offer
fair reporting, that the entire
paper, not just individual editors, make good faith efforts to
eradicate offensive reporting and "opinions" offered, and that they
uphold a professional journalism code of ethics. This is NOT about
censorship. This is about holding the paper accountable for
professionalism and responsible reporting.
After
the Independent Alligator
editors expressed nominal concern over their reader's protest in
September and October, they continued to publish racist and offensive
cartoons, including one that referenced killing
Native Americans. A January protest was organized: see David
Reznik
- Student Coalition against Injustice, Press RELEASE: Florida AIM to
Demonstrate, call to action, AIM Protest Flyer, and letter from Alesek Institute in
Washington State.
Even
though the IA editorial board changes every year, the policies about
what
is fit to print need to be fundamentally revisited to incorporate
ethical standards of reporting. The Boycott Coalition will continue
efforts until such professional standards are adopted and the necessary
apologies for past indecencies are made.
Much has
taken place since the Fall 2005 Semester.
The Cartoonist is no longer working at the Independent Alligator and
the IA has called for a diverse population to write for all sections of
the paper, which is a great triumph. However, professional standards
suggested by the coalition have not been adopted and an apology to
offended groups has not been offered. Clearly the IA staff are making
efforts to make better decisions; still the Coalition demands for
apology, training, and a professional code of ethics has not been
implemented. The
Coalition continues to meet and strategize (see IBC
Director Darius Bost's call
for student leaders to meet), even as they meet with
Alligator editors to find resolution.
The
Cartoon, Condoleezza Rice, Kanye West, the N-word, and the "RACE
CARD"
Dean
Terry Mills, Letter to the Editors
Petition
from Imani Hope, The
University of Florida Chapter, National Council of Negro Women
Open
Letter from Angelique Nixon,
President of Black Graduate Student Association (BGSO)
Dean
Neil Sullivan, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (submitted
to IA
and Sun, unpublished)
Dr.
Telles-Irvin, Vice
President for Student Affairs - Offcial University Response
President
Bernie Machen, Letter to the
Editors
The
Second Cartoon - "Insult to
Injury"
Dear
Editors and Cartoonist, From Dr. Evans
Alligator
Editorials -
No
Apologies
Dr.
Terry Mills - Editorial in the Gainesville Sun
Alligator
Accountability, From Dr. Evans
Beginning
of Protest - First Protest March
BET.com
article - "Did the Cartoonist Go Too Far?
Student
Government Resolution
Student
Government President, Joe Goldberg,
Executive Order
SG
President Urges Student Groups and Community Businesses to Stop
Advertising
Feedback
on Independent Alligator Issue, Selected Letters to Dr. Evans
Florida
Postcard, "Negro Meat" -
(1847-1919) circulated on student discussion group, Sept 20, 2005
Alligator
Responses to Controversy - Individual responses, no formal
apology
Vanessa
Fabien, Student, Open Letter to
UF President Machen
Association
of Black Faculty
and Staff, Dr. Anthony Greene, President
Alachua County NAACP, Dr.
Bowie, President
Alpha Phi Alpha Statement, Ray
McKnight President Nu Eta Lambda Chapter
Speak
Up Speak Out Rally and Protest
March, Marie Denise Jean-Louis, BSU President
When Cartoons Hurt - Black
Unity Forum
Center
for the Study of Race and Race Relations (CSRRR),
Levin College of Law -
Statement
CSRRR Link
University
of Florida Faculty Senate
Passes Resolution to Denounce Cartoon - Demands Apology
Brown
Daily Herald - Brown University
Community
Protest Rally - Justice in Media Coalition and The Alachua
County
Miniterial Alliance
Community Protest Rally
Flyer - Justice in Media Coalition
September
26 Meeting with the Independent Allligator Editorial Staff -
Minutes by
Vanessa Fabien
September
29 Coalition Meeting Minutes by Vanessa Fabien
The History
of the N-Word Flyer - Panel Discussion Advertisement
N-word
Forum Goals and N-word Forum Agenda
The Race
Card Forum - Center for
the Study of Race and Race Relations
As a junior
faculty member, writing my letters and
participating in an early protest march to
support
the students was not easy. I give respect to the students, faculty and
staff, and
especially to student leaders of the Black Student Union, Black
Graduate
Student Organization, and Give
Black for organizing the protest
marches. Much respect to Dr.
Betty Stewart-Dowdell, the ABFS
community, and the entire Dean of
Students Office administration and staff for guidance and
leadership during
this difficult time. I am especially gratefull to Imani Hope, Velouse
Dorestin, Lauren Case, and Sharon Burney, the fire behind the
UF
National Council of Negro Women for showing me what leadership,
scholarship, and service can be.
| GO
GATORS! |
DR.
EVANS * MAIN PAGE
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