IVORY TOWERS: Controversial Temple U. cartoon

Even though the entire nation was split over the confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas, Temple University was particularly divided. A controversial political cartoon about the hearings in the school's student newspaper, The Temple News, had television crews descending onto the campus to film students shredding newspapers and shouting protests. On October 18 the News ran a graduate student's editorial cartoon depicting "The Miracle Transformation of Clarence Thom." The cartoon, drawn by John Oram, shows two Judge Thomases, one white, speaking correct English, and the other a "Sambo" caricature of Thomas, speaking the stereotypical slave speech of Tom from the book Uncle Tom's Cabin. "We didn't mean to offend a whole race, just attack Clarence Thomas," explained Editorial Page Editor Michele Bell. But the cartoon did offend a large portion of the Temple student body. The African American Student Union, in a statement printed in the News, protested the "outdated stereotype," which they say contributes to the "oppression and degradation of people of color." When the cartoon was printed, it set off a chain reaction. It started in the classroom. "When I opened the paper up in my class I just went, 'Oh no,' " said Sharyn Flanagan, a black editorial assistant and reporter for the News. From the classroom, students on both sides of the issue went the the newspaper's office. Approximately 40 people came to the News' office, a few to express support, but most to say they found the image offensive. Three protesters then shredded the paper outside the Student Activities Center. Soon, the controversy was spreading beyond the limits of the North Philadelphia campus. Local news programs brought in reporters and camera crews, and the controversy was aired on ABC's national nightly news and on CNN. "There was so much turmoil. At one point there were rumors they were going to storm the office," Bell said. "A security guard came up and said we should get to the furthest corner and shut the lights out." When administration officials stepped in, led by Dean of Students Kristl Wiernicki and Acting Vice President for Student Affairs Rilata Walker, they suggested a public apology, as the African American Student Union had demanded in their statement. But the newspaper, citing its First Amendment rights, refused. "[Walker] said we should apologize and I said we're not going to," said Editor in Chief Erin Friar. "There are minority members in our editorial board and they had no problem with it . . . it was an opinion and you can't apologize for it." But the Students Publications Board -- which oversees all publications at Temple and appoints the editor and can fire students who work for the News -- claimed it had jurisdiction over the paper because the News is "editorially, but not financially independent." "I felt as a university organ, they needed to be sensitive to the sensitivities of other people, and the news should not be offensive to any minority group at all," Walker explained. "My feeling was to say, 'Did you know what you created here?' " · Bell said the cartoon was meant to depict the way Clarence Thomas was "switching his tactics" from first declaring race as unimportant, to later charging the Senate Judiciary Committee with conducting a "high tech lynching of an uppity Negro." "This was not directed to the African-American students at large, you can't take it that way," Flanagan said. "I think people saw it and got furious with the image, without reading what it said," Bell said. "Many agreed that Clarence Thomas was not fit to be a witness at a wedding." She blamed the students for not reading the editorial that went with the cartoon. The editorial page editor said that Oram did his job because the cartoon "provoked discussion on campus, which is so apathetic." "There are a lot of race problems [at Temple] and it doesn't get brought up until something like this comes up," Bell said. Friar cited a race riot in the spring of 1990 as evidence of deeper race relations problems at Temple. "But this year I really saw it coming," Friar said. "In debates in classes it's there, and Temple really doesn't help much." · After the cartoon ran, Friar was called into a meeting with Wiernicki and Walker to discuss the situation. "Dr. Walker said she was really offended by the cartoon," the editor in chief said. "She said to me that if she could, she would have me fired -- myself, the cartoonist, and Michele. But she didn't have that power because only the Students Publication Board could do that." Friar said that Walker then tried to convince the Publication Board to fire her and her staffers. But the dean said last week that she had never tried to have the editors or the cartoonist fired. "I've heard this rumor recently and I don't understand it or why it came up so late," Walker said. "I don't know where they got the idea that someone threatened to fire them. I don't remember it being in the discussion that it was in my jurisdiction to fire them." Frair called the American Civil Liberties Union of Philadelphia for help. ACLU Legal Director Stefan Pressar did not see the cartoon, but informed Friar that "Temple University has been declared a state actor," which must follow the constitutional rights of the state. "The fact that she is a journalist and editor of a paper means that she has certain rights which need to be observed by Temple University," Pressar said. He contacted high ranking officials in the university and "reminded them what the law said." "[To fire the editors] would be an act of censorship and a violation of the First Amendment," Friar said. "In my opinion [Walker] should be fired, anyone that has such a blatant disregard for a First Amendment right." But administration officials have said that they did not get directly intervene in the incident and therefore did not step on any rights. "The administration did not get involved," Temple spokesman George Ingram said. "They were making an effort to bring the two parties together." Though not all of the news staffers the thought cartoon was the right way to express opinions about Thomas, all stood by the editors' decision not to apologize. "I personally didn't like the cartoon," said columnist Jocob Goldfinger. "I agreed with what inspired it, but I thought there must have been a better way to get that message across." But Goldfinger added that "the dean's reaction was the most disturbing. If everyone on the editorial board decides that an apology isn't appropriate, that decision has to stand." "We all had to stick together and we did a great job," Flanagan added. Instead of apologizing, Frair said, they wrote a "clarification" in the News, which stated that "a varience exists between what we meant to express and what was perceived." The Publications Board took out an ad in the News and distributed fliers explaining the board's role, and suggesting that the News be more sensitive in the future. Friar said the ad was an effort on the part of the board to "try to absolve themselves." "They went on the TV news and put out about a million flyers," she added. · Although emotions have died down, bitter feelings linger on the Temple campus. "I sort of resent the fact that someone said [we tried to fire them]," said Walker. "We talked in the context of what might be allowable, but no one threatened them." Friar called the situation ironic, saying it is the administration, not the newspaper, that is insensitive to black students' problems. "They're saying we're racist and offensive and hurting African-Americans everywhere, but this is the same university that displaced local families," Friar said. "This used to be a whole neighborhood, but Temple took it and had no regard for where they went." "If I've learned anything, it's not to trust anyone at this university," Frair said. But some have hope for the future. "I hope some good things come out of it," ACLU lawyer Pressar said. "They set up some commitees and there are ongoing dialogues. That's all to be applauded." "On the whole we're going to be more sensitive," Friar said. "But if a controversial issue comes up we're not going to duck away from it. If the cartoon came up again, we'd still run it."

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