A community newspaper in New York faced intense criticism Sunday for calling President Obama the N-word in a headline.
The WestView News, a small paper that touts itself as “The Voice of the West Village,” ran an op-ed column in its July edition titled “The Nig–r in the White House.”
The article, penned by James Lincoln Collier, was actually pro-Obama and criticized what it called “racism” by far-right voters.
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Possibly fearing backlash, the paper did not put the article on its website. But a copy of it was posted online by the New York Post, along with a picture of another story by WestView News Columnist Alvin Hall, who criticized the article.
In a rebuttal titled “This Headline Offends Me,” Hall wrote, “I don’t see how its use benefits anyone, but I do feel all too clearly how it deeply offends me.”
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Reaction on Twitter was just as negative, with user Donna Bee asking, “How do you refer to Jews, Mexicans, Muslims and Asians? Just curious.”
While Steve Bien-Aime, a student at Penn State University, tweeted “over the top?”
But not everyone was offended. A Long Beach, Calif. resident named Hayden tweeted, “How do I subscribe @WestViewNews.”
According to its website, WestView News is distributed each month to 20,000 readers in the West Village, Greenwich Village and Chelsea neighborhoods of New York City.
The paper is run by CEO George Capsis.
Representatives for Westview News have not yet returned TheWrap’s request for comment.