UVA newspaper's April Fool's issue satirizing a black student's bloody arrest sparks student outrage
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The Cavalier Daily's April Fool's Day front page is dominated by a story with the headline "ABC agents tackle Native American student outside Bodo's Bagels," which appears to satirize the controversial arrest of UVA student Martese Johnson last month.
The story's tagline reads, "Students decry 'Trail of Schmears' as marginalization of minorities reaches new low," a reference to the "Trail of Tears" that followed the the US government's Indian Removal Act of 1830.
20-year-old UVA student Martese Johnson, the vice chair of the the university's Honor Committee, received national attention after he was arrested by Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control agents in March. Johnson, who is black, was left severely bruised and bloody after his arrest for allegedly having a fake ID.
The Cavalier Daily also satirized Native American names in the April Fool's article, writing, "Third-year College student Strong Buffalo organized a powwow with Dances with Wolves and the other two Native American students at the University - first-year Rabbit in the Grass and fourth-year Insect Humming, both in the College."
Both students and outside commentators accused The Cavalier Daily of racism for their article:
Really, @cavalierdaily ? This is not satire. It's obnoxiously racist. http://t.co/b6YJRROCzQ
- Sarah Storti (@damozel_) April 1, 2015
You gonna write an article about every other tragedy our school faced, or are we always the butt of the white man's jokes? @cavalierdaily
- chiq. (@_chelsgabrielle) April 1, 2015
The Cavalier Daily is student run, so our peers wrote/edited/published this ignorance, thinking it was "funny".
- chiq. (@_chelsgabrielle) April 1, 2015
Don't know why @cavalierdaily thought publishing a satiric article on two underrepresented communities at UVA was even remotely funny.
- Priya Bhardwaj (@priyawaslike) April 1, 2015
You may have wrote it about Native Americans but it's clear who the joke was on #BlackLivesMatter @cavalierdaily
- Leelou IG:eruzlie (@eruzlie) April 1, 2015
The Cavalier Daily appears to have removed the controversial article from its website. We have reached out to the student newspaper for comment and will update with any statement we receive.
Here's The Cavalier Daily's April Fool's front page in full:
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