My husband leaves newspapers in the bathroom all the time. A guy thing, I suppose. Gotta poop? Need to take the paper with ya. When I was tidying up in there yesterday, the headline above caught my eye. Then I started reading. Ohmigod. Seriously. The stupid people rear their ugly heads yet again.
The editor of our local paper got a call from some freaked-out woman from Fremont (home to Gerber). Apparently she’s got a problem with the number of photos of black people that appear on the pages. Her actual words: “I am not angry. I am not a racist. My friends and I all figured there was probably some kind of delivery mistake. This can’t be the paper intended for the people outside of the big city. Your editors have forgotten that up here in Fremont, it’s the white people buying the paper. We’re not interested in a paper full of pictures of black people.”
What? Seriously. What?????
My first instinct is to add this to my running list of negatives about living here in Grand Rapids. (Although, to be fair, I’ve been compiling a list of the things I like too.) But, yes, I do realize that people like this (small-minded, ignorant people like this) live in big cities too. Still, I never heard stuff like that during my five years in Chicago.
She’s not a racist? Whatever. Apparently she parked her white ass in Fremont to avoid the blacks that are inundating the big city (the oh-so BIG city of Grand Rapids). I’m heartened only by the fact that the Press decided to address this issue publicly. Thank you for that.
This, of course, is the same paper that about five years ago ran a caption underneath a photo of a couple who’d had a premature baby. The caption somehow indicated that these two people, who were thankful that their baby survived, were unmarried. Gasp! The letters that rolled in on that one. They were forced to write a column apologizing to the couple for siccing the upright and properly moral citizenry of this fine city on them. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Ohmigod is right!!! I can’t believe that white ass beeotch up in Freemont. Not racist?! Whatever! I’m proud that our paper publicly addressed this. I wish the printed Ms. Whitey N. Freemont’s real name. Shame on her.
And I’m proud of you for writing about this, Lori.
What???
I can’t believe this article. And the gall of that woman!
As soon as I start to think we are making progress in this world overcoming racism and bigotry, I hear of something like this.
Her friends thought there was a delivery mistake? One of her “friends” has got to be named The Grand Dragon.
“With liberty and justice for all” – indeed. Unless you live in Fremont!