Brown University’s student newspaper, The Brown Daily Herald, has removed what it described as one student’s “racist” column and added a significant editor’s note to another from the same student, both of which were published Monday.
The first column was called “The white privilege of cows” and the second was “Columbian Exchange Day”.
The argument of the first column on privilege and culture “was built on eugenics and invoked the notion of biological differences between races,” according to the editorial board. The first column can still be read online.
The second column “made a racist argument about how Native Americans should interpret the meaning of Columbus Day and its history,” according to the editor’s note.
The editors explained that after publishing the first column, they received the writer’s second column and initially decided to publish it. Despite a late-night decision to remove the column from the paper and the Internet, the student editors were unable to fix their problem.
“After initially deciding the column was suitable for publication, a couple of editors read the column late last night and decided not to publish it. We contacted our publisher but were unable to reach them, and they printed the issue with the column inside,” the editorial board wrote.
The newspaper’s editorial board apologized Tuesday night and published a lengthy letter explaining what happened.
“We regret the hurt that we have caused. The Herald’s blind spots are not lost on us. The publication of these columns reminds us how far we still have to go,” the editors wrote.
You can read the full letter here.
