As a senior and a member of the Black community, I am writing because I have been highly offended by the lack of respect shown by the Daily for events hosted by the Black community and the frequent stereotypical portrayal of our community. There have been two major events within the last week or so and the Daily has given each event only negative press.
On Saturday, November 5th, African Student Organization (ASO) hosted "Break the Stage," a step competition which featured multiple teams from other schools. Though the show had its initial difficulties, it was still a very successful event that attracted people from all over Massachusetts. The only mention of the show after the performance in the Daily was of an incident that affected four of the performers in the show ("A Scary Night for Dance," Nov. 7, 2005).
In that snippet of information nothing positive was said about the show. The article failed to mention which teams competed or who even won the competition. The article's title, "A Scary Night for Dance," is negative and further shows a lack of respect for the event. The snippet didn't even discuss the performances of the two Tufts teams, which were both amazing. "Break the Stage" won The Standing Room Only Award last year, but the Daily failed to mention that as well. The focus was only on the negative.
On Monday, Nov. 7th, Pan African Alliance (PAA) hosted Black Solidarity Day. There were three main components to the day: the rally on the Campus Center patio, a dinner in Dewick, and a discussion about leadership in the Black community. Just like the snippet of an article about "Break the Stage," the picture and quotation about Black Solidarity Day misrepresented the day's event and solely focused on a negative aspect ("I'm asking you to recognize," November 8, 2005). Without describing the event or giving any history about the event, the Daily uses a picture and highly inflammatory quotation from PAA President Ashley Mitchell.
The Daily should have had more respect to not use the quote and especially not as a large title for the picture. Even worse, the quote that was used did not even relate to the topic of the discussion, on which the reporter was supposed to be reporting; the quote was used simply because it is inflammatory. Even if the Daily insisted on using the quotation, why couldn't they use it along with information about the background and importance of Black Solidarity Day? From the caption and the picture, a reader who knows nothing about the event or the day would learn absolutely nothing about the event. I always thought good journalism was to inform; apparently, that is not what the Daily seeks to do in every article, picture, or caption. Black Solidarity Day is about unifying any student that identifies with being Black: African, Caribbean, biracial ... anyone. For the Daily to use that caption, which goes against the purpose of Black Solidarity Day, is a complete misrepresentation of Black Solidarity Day, PAA and its President, and, especially, the Black community at Tufts.
The picture that accompanied the caption was stereotypical. When you take the stereotypical picture of angry black females and combine it with a seemingly angry quote, it continues to give the impression that the Black community is not accepting of biracial students, which is completely not true. I am very offended that the Daily is even hinting at this. Anyone with a lack of knowledge about the Black community and the inner workings of it can easily jump to conclusions from this article.
Overall, both snippets contributed to the lack of understanding between the various cultures present at Tufts and the promotion of stereotypes that already plague members of the Black community. The snippets also illustrate the Daily's lack of respect for events hosted by the Black community and the use of inflammatory language to entice and enrage students.
The Daily is not trying to sell newspapers. Does it need to use provocative language to get readers?
Jeanna Morris is a senior majoring in political science and community health.
