On Tuesday, in response to a story in the sports section on Dailylobo.com, someone posted a comment that was legitimately offensive to the African American community. It was about fried chicken, and it was completely unrelated to the article on which it was commenting. Members of African American Student Services were understandably upset at the insensitivity of the writer and the Daily Lobo’s slow response to removing the comment.
The comment section is not for people to spout racist bullshit — it brings everybody down. What kind of instinct is that, setting out to destroy the spirit of a people?
We are looking into the possibilities of disabling the comment function altogether, setting up a system where a Daily Lobo staff member looks into comments submitted by our readers and decides if they can be posted, based on whether they violate rules of human decency, or an other alternative. I guess it’s too much responsibility for some to handle — having a voice under a pseudonym on a student newspaper’s Web site.
To the person who posted the comment: Making people suffer with cheap shots doesn’t enlighten anyone about anything, although it does shed a depressing light on the kind of scum we’ve got prowling through the University’s education system.
But on a better note, this has brought to our attention the need to give the African American community a more prominent voice. Starting fall semester, keep your eyes out for the twice-monthly column The Black Experience, featuring UNM students.
Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo editor-in-chief
