The Cartoon That Wouldn't Die

Whoops! Here we go again. The 'N-word' cartoon that sparked controversy after being run in a New Jersey college newspaper has caused an uproar again. This time, the Arizona Daily Wildcat, a college paper serving the University of Arizona in Tuscon, on Wednesday unintentionally ran the same syndicated cartoon that uses the offensive term to reference President-elect Barack Obama.

The cartoon (at left), created by syndicated cartoonist Keith Knight, features a canvasser asking a Pennsylvania woman who she intended to vote for. The woman asks her husband, who responds from inside the home, "We're votin' for the n***er!"  The woman then tells the baffled canvasser, "We're votin' for the n***er."

According to the Arizona Daily Star in Tuscon, the cartoon appeared in the college paper Wednesday because of a "production error." Wildcat Editor in Chief Lauren LePage had originally selected a comic that commemorated the Obama election victory; another editor had chosen the controversial comic from a server and placed it on the page. LePage then replaced the other editor's pick with her own on the server -- but not on the page. She didn’t catch the error until the newspaper was printed, the Daily Star reports. LePage called the incident an “honest mistake.”  -- Dexter Hill