UT Student Newspaper Apologizes For Racially Charged Cartoon
AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The editorial board of the University of Texas student newspaper has apologized for a racially charged cartoon about media coverage of the killing of a Florida teen.
The Daily Texan's five-member editorial board apologized Wednesday night, a day after publishing the cartoon about the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
The unarmed black youth was shot last month by a white neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla. The volunteer, George Zimmerman, claimed self-defense.
The Daily Texan cartoon mentioned the race of both individuals, using a racial slur to describe Martin. The cartoon also criticized the media's coverage of the death, describing it as "yellow journalism." The cartoon portrayed a mother reading to a child about the killing.
The student newspaper published the cartoon on Tuesday, but then removed it from its website. Then on Wednesday, the paper re-published the cartoon with this statement:
"A controversial editorial cartoon on the Trayvon Martin shooting was published Tuesday on the Opinion page of The Daily Texan. The Daily Texan Editorial Board recognizes the sensitive nature of the cartoon's subject matter.
The views expressed in the cartoon are not those of the editorial board. They are those of the artist. It is the policy of the editorial board to publish the views of our columnists and cartoonists, even if we disagree with them.
Please direct any inquiries to editor@dailytexanonline.com."
Later Wednesday, the paper removed the cartoon from its website yet again and issued this apology.
The student cartoonist has also apologized and no longer works for The Daily Texan.
This is the cartoon in question:
