From staff reports
Graffiti and a banner denouncing a Chronicle cartoon decked the walkway entrance to the Bryan Center in the twilight hours of Tuesday morning.
The graffiti referred to a cartoon by engineering senior Jim Funk that ran in Monday's Chronicle. The cartoon alluded to a similar cartoon by Funk that The Chronicle published last year, which provoked controversy as well.
The banner above the entrance depicted a member of the Ku Klux Klan wearing a swastika on his chest along with the slogan, "Fight racism. Fight Jim Funk." The banner is thought to have been posted around 1 a.m. Tuesday, said Det. Charles Nordan of Public Safety. Public Safety removed the banner around 4 a.m. because of its "obscene nature," Nordan said. Public Safety has a policy of erasing any graffiti or posters that may be obscene or racist.
The graffiti, in pink and blue chalk, was scattered on the walkway and cleaned up by housekeeping around the time the banner was taken down. Nordan said that the graffiti included phrases such as "FunKKK," "Jim Funk is a racist" and "Fuck The Chronicle."
The cartoon elicited outrage from many members of the community, particularly the Asian-American community.
Engineering senior Charles Choi, president of the Asian Student Association, called a meeting Tuesday afternoon with senior editors from The Chronicle. Representatives from the other cultural groups on campus and the Duke Student Government also attended.
At the meeting, student representatives expressed mixed emotions of outrage and frustration to the paper's editors.
"The Chronicle should have learned the lessons from last year, that this discussion was not educational," said Trinity junior Anji Malhotra, president of Spectrum Organization. "To not consider the implications of the expression of speech is irresponsible and disrespectful."
Trinity junior Russ Freyman, managing editor of The Chronicle, said the cartoon was not drawn with malice as the intent. "[Funk] had a viewpoint. For us to limit his freedom to express his viewpoint would be inappropriate as a newspaper," Freyman said.
DSG representative and ASA member Inhi Cho, a Trinity sophomore, said she considered the cartoon "a slap in the face."
Choi agreed. "I don't think it's getting through to [The Chronicle] the pain that people feel. In our eyes, you've crossed that line," he said.
Spectrum Organization plans to hold a question-and-answer session with Funk and representatives from The Chronicle Thursday at 10 p.m. in the Spectrum House commons room. Julian Sanchez, director of the Office of Intercultural Affairs, may also attend.
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