I got an email the other day to look at Malignant Humor, this new online humor magazine, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was surprised and shocked by much of what they put up on the website. As a black man, I am upset that someone finds it funny to keep perpetuating the stereotype of the black man as a dumb, sex-crazed beast. The sad irony is that these little opinion columns on their site were probably written by some white kid who has no clue about what it's like to be a black man in this country, dealing with a society that views you as a rapist and a criminal.
The magazine also makes jokes about black women hating other women and hating themselves. In addition to the website's insulting portrayals of women, it glorifies alcohol consumption, trivializes sexually transmitted diseases and is often inappropriately vulgar. I urge my fellow, sophisticated classmates to stay away from the publication and not justify this magazine's existence by reading its poor excuses for humor. Not to mention that Duke already has an adequately funny and non-offensive humor publication, Carpe Diem.
Our University publishes many excellent literary, photography, scientific and general interest journals. Sadly, Malignant Humor does not fall into any of these categories.
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