Racist Cartoon

With racism in the forefront of many peoples minds, many publications have taken the imitative to take a critical look at race relations in America.

However, the editorial cartoon published in the University of Kentucky student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, was seen as explicit racism.

The cartoon, drawn by law school student Bradley Fletcher, was a commentary on the age-old Greek system at Kentucky and its racial homogeneity. In the cartoon were three "fraternities" at an auction, "Alpha Caucasian," "Kappa Kappa Kappa," and "Aryan Omega." The fraternity members were white males wearing collared shirts. The object they were bidding on at the auction was a black slave, wearing only shorts, with his ankle chained to the auction block.

A student protest was held on Friday afternoon. The same night, the editor in chief of the student newspaper, Keith Smiley, posted an apology for the cartoon on the newspaper website. The letter was republished in Monday's newspaper.

Fletcher, who left campus for the weekend to visit family, said he intended for his cartoon to offer his opinion of a traditional Greek system that he felt was not a very diverse representation of the student body. He also said it seemed to him the message of his cartoon was misinterpreted.

"I did not expect this, not at all," said Fletcher. "I was really shocked, and it caught me off guard. This cartoon was meant to be a blatant attack on the fraternities."

He said he felt his cartoon was poignant because he'd observed Lexington to be a very "stratified city as far as class goes."