University of Virginia Library

An Explanation

Last Saturday we printed an issue which
was somewhat different from our usual fare.
In that College Topics edition we attempted
to portray many of the unflattering aspects of
the "Old" University, of which there are
considerable vestiges in 1970. On page three of
that edition there appeared a caricature of a
black waif which looks as if it were
taken from the illustrations for "Little
Black Sambo," Actually, it was taken from
the 1913 edition of Corks & Curls and we
sandwiched it between two completely
unrelated poems.

This stereotype apparently has offended
many members of the University Community.
That was not our intent. We ran it to mock
the automatic, unthinking racism that
prevailed at this school for so many years. We
had hoped that this University had reached a
level of consciousness sufficiently high to
allow the caricature to be appreciated as such.
And that was our mistake. In many ways a
large segment of this University has attitudes
on race rooted in the past. Racism in this
community is too real and painful for so
many to joke about.

And so we extend our sincere apologies to
those who were offended by that portion of
our College Topics issue. We assure you that
that was not our intention.