I have been thinking a long time about what to write in this letter of apology. As one of the writers of “Indians Take Over President Bridges’ Office” in the April Fools’ issue of the Pioneer, I was surprised to learn that the satire had deeply hurt those it had intended to bring positive attention to. As a journalist who takes her job very seriously, larger questions about the nature of free speech and the boundaries of humor rose in my mind. As a person who carefully studies and writes about race, I was confused about how I was supposed to react.

But the truth is that this isn’t about me. Whether it is within my rights as a white, middle-class student journalist to attempt to bring light to the horrifying stereotypes embedded in political correctness is irrelevant. All that is of importance here is that the article, despite its best intentions, was hurtful. And for that, I am deeply and profoundly sorry.

If there has ever been anything I have believed in, it is that human beings must be able to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. What draws me to journalism is that it provides the facts and information necessary for people to make individual, educated decisions about their opinions. In the case of this article, I do not have the right to say whether it was hurtful or not.

To put it simply and bluntly, I am not Native American; I could never understand what it means to be Native American; and I will never experience pain or oppression as a racial minority. Indeed, I am one of the powerful few who must always be aware of her white privilege. So in writing the article, I was wrong.

It might be useful, however, to state for the record that Alex and I were trying to shed light on the inherent hypocrisy of “celebrating diversity.” Too often on Whitman’s campus, racial issues are dealt with by perpetuating racial stereotypes, rather than acknowledging and discussing in earnest the violent and difficult history we as white Americans: even liberal white Americans: try to cover up.

Although we chose to focus on Native Americans specifically, we did not do so because we felt the group was too tiny, marginalized, or insignificant to care or fight back. We wrote about Native Americans explicitly because we felt the racial stereotypes surrounding that group are particularly rampant and horrifying, and we wanted to bring attention to that reality.
And while we succeeded in bringing attention to Native American issues on campus, we did not do so in the way in which we had hoped.

Sometimes good intentions fail. This is one example. And while I stand firmly behind the Pioneer’s decision to publish the piece, I regret being ignorant enough to have not foreseen how much suffering it ultimately caused.

Regardless of my own feelings on the article (and on humor and satire in general), it was tremendously hurtful, and I cannot reiterate enough the depth of my regret and shame. I know that this apology cannot be enough to mend the damage it caused.
Maybe this article can help to begin more complicated and serious talks about race on campus: ones that are not driven purely by black-and-white dialogue or mindless “celebrations” of cultures we claim to understand. But even if that happens, it will have been at the expense of a group of people who were seriously injured by a well intentioned, poorly-executed article.

I am so, so sorry for that.