Brown Daily Herald says sorry

The Brown Daily Herald has apologized for two columns it ran that were denounced as racist by the Brown community. 

The two pieces, authored by Junior M. Dzhali Maier, argued that “wealth, poverty, privilege, marginalization and oppression are very much a part of us and are inextricably written into our biology and history,” and made the claim that “all Native Americans should celebrate Columbus Day, even if they have reservations about honoring Christopher Columbus himself.”

In its apology, the Herald wrote, “This is not the first time The Herald has published racist material, and while we hope it will be the last, a promise is not enough.”

The first piece was entitled “The white privilege of cows,” and discussed eugenics. The Herald admitted: “The column relied on the repeatedly disproven premise that race is a biological category.” 

The second op-ed, entitled “Columbian Exchange Day,” made racist claims “about how Native Americans should interpret the meaning of Columbus Day and its history.” This article was taken down and now has an editor’s note in its place.

Naturally, the campus went nuts.

An editorial from Bluestockings Magazine described the first article as “racist, harmful and grossly misinformed.”  

And a powerful joint response from many groups on campus made clear that many students at Brown, “stand in Solidarity with Native Americans” on this campus.

The Herald’s Editorial Board issued its own statement apologizing. It also instructed its writers via email to feel free to discuss the controversy to friends but not discuss it publicly.

On Thursday, a message was posted to the Brown Bears Admirers forum on Facebook in support of the student author of these columns, which ignited another discussion.

Major news outlets, including the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune,  have picked up the story. 

On Monday there will be a petition and demonstration hosted by Native Americans at Brown (NAB)  to rename Fall Weekend to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.