We Said What We Said!

By Noire Online
for Texas Metro News

This week, a cartoon depicting Grambling State University as a dangerous place ran in newspapers across Louisiana. Not only was the cartoon inaccurate, it was offensive and disrespectful to the legacy of the school. Take a look at Noire’s official response to the cartoon.

This past week, Louisiana cartoonist Fred Mulhearn decided to push the bounds of satire too far with one of his syndicated cartoons.

The cartoon in question depicted a road sign directing drivers to the exit for Grambling State University with a smaller sign below it emblazoned with the words, “Enter At Your Own Risk.” To top it off, the sign was riddled with eight gunshots.
Yes, he did that.

The misguided cartoon was a response to recent shootings at Grambling that left one dead and seven injured during the school’s Homecoming weekend. Earlier that week, another shooting on the campus resulted in the death of a 19 year-old and injury of a 16 year-old. None of those involved were Grambling students.

After the incident, Grambling President Rick Gallot expressed his dismay at the incidents that occurred at the hands of people who were not directly affiliated with the school.

“There was nothing out of the ordinary about outsiders, as you would say, being here,” Gallot said. “The difference now is outsiders who have a reckless disregard for the safety of others here on campus, and we are not going to stand for it. We will not spare any effort to ensure that our campus is safe.”

Now back to the cartoon.

Several papers ran the cartoon, and the reaction from Grambling’s students, alumni, faculty, staff, and supporters was swift. They rightfully expressed their anger and disappointment through social media posts, along with phone calls and emails to the newspapers who published the cartoon. Although some publications issued apologies for publishing the cartoon, the damage was done.

What Grambling experienced last week is no different from what many other universities around this country experience in relation to crime. Universities utilize a great deal of resources to ensure campuses are safe for students, faculty, and staff. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, incidents happen.

For instance, earlier this fall at Louisiana State University there was a shooting on campus involving three suspects who were also “outsiders.” Yet, there’s no cartoon to speak of, that portrays LSU as an unsafe place. Perhaps even more unsettling, LSU was the subject of a federal investigation earlier this year due to possible violations of the Clery Act, which requires all universities receiving federal funding to disseminate warnings to the campus community and make information on crimes public. Nope, no cartoon about that either. 

Mulhearn’s misguided and uninformed cartoon was more than just a cheap shot at Grambling. It reinforced the worst stereotypes about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Those who intimately know about what HBCUs stand for already know they are hubs of innovation and a safe haven for students who thrive in an environment where the people charged with their educational development look like them. They aren’t crime-ridden places where no one is safe. They are storied institutions that boast proud legacies. They are hallowed ground where our ancestors succeeded against all odds and paved the way for the generations to come.

Mulhearn and those who made the callous decision to run his tone-deaf cartoon are obviously misinformed about HBCUs, so here are just a few things that illustrate what these institutions are about, and plot twist! None of them have anything to do with violence and mayhem.

At Grambling, research that monitors the level of coronavirus in wastewater seeks to get a sense of the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community. The school is also collaborating with LSU Health Shreveport and Louisiana Tech to form one of the four Rockefeller Regional Accelerators for Genomic Surveillance. The genomic sequencing from this partnership allows health officials and scientists to study prolonged outbreaks, understand behaviors that spread COVID-19, and map coronavirus clusters.

Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge and Sasol, an international chemicals and energy company, recently announced a long-term partnership to establish an interdisciplinary academic initiative to provide research, career development and training support to Southern students.
 
At Florida A&M University, the Center for International Agricultural Trade Development Research and Training will help lead global efforts to advance production, handling, and consumption of fruits and vegetables as part of a five-year $15 million award from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for its Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture.
 
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (a proud HBCU grad) visited Hampton University this fall to tour its four NASA-funded satellite mission projects, including the $140 million Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (A.I.M.) mission, the first only NASA mission totally controlled by an HBCU.

Tuskegee University received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop, implement, and disseminate a model to increase the number of faculty members with expertise in Materials Sciences and Engineering.

These tidbits are just a small sampling of the impactful and relevant work that happens daily at HBCUs across the nation. You don’t have to dig hard to find even more. It’s more than unfair that HBCUs easily become news when tragedy happens, but struggle for screen time or print space when it comes to the positive aspects.
And that unfairness is rooted in another, equally dangerous problem: the lack of people of color in newsrooms around the nation.

Sure, there have been some high-profile hires in the news industry, such as Kim Godwin’s hire as the president of ABC News and Kevin Merida’s selection as the executive editor of the Los Angeles Times. But those are not enough. Diversity is desperately needed at the local and regional level to bring to life the full picture of the Black experience.

The Black people who work in newsrooms will be the people who can identify issues most impactful to the Black community when non-people of color dismiss them. Black people in the newsroom will be the people who search out diversity of viewpoints. They will be the people who ensure positive Black stories are shared. And they will be the people who tell you that the cartoon you think is funny is hurtful, damaging, and offensive (and they’ll save you from having to write long apologies filled with meaningless excuses and finger-pointing).

So, to Fred Mulhearn and others who share his close-minded views of our beloved HBCUs, don’t put pen to paper to criticize or poke fun at an institution you clearly have no clue about. You lack the range and the capacity to do so. And as you see today, it’s not worth the bounty of criticism you find appropriately laid at your doorstep.

Be blessed. And, WE SAID WHAT WE SAID!