NY Newspaper Under Fire For Calling President Obama The N-Word In Headline

A community newspaper in New York faced intense criticism on Sunday for calling President Obama the N-word in a headline. The WestView News, a small paper that touts itself as “The Voice of the West Village,” ran an opened column in its July edition titled “The Nig–r in the White House.”

The article, penned by James Lincoln Collier, was actually pro-Obama and criticized what it called “racism” by far-right voters.
Possibly fearing backlash, the paper did not put the article on its website. But a copy of it was posted online by the New York Post, along with a screen grab of another story by WestView News Columnist Alvin Hall, who criticized the article.

In a rebuttal titled ”This Headline Offends Me,” Hall wrote, “I don't see how its use benefits anyone, but I do feel all too clearly how it deeply offends me.” Strangely the piece is written in support of Obama. However that has not stopped anger erupting over the mere use of the N-word.
'It’s disrespectful in any context to refer to the president of the United States as the N-word,' one local resident, Eugene May, 31, told The Post.
'If you were quoting something or referring to the historic context of the word being used, I can understand the justification.' 'It seems he’s just using it for shock value.'
The editor of WestView News, 86-year-old George Capsis, attempted to explain the reason for running the word

'The editorial staff continues to object to the use of the word,' Capsis wrote to The Post. '(But) in this article, however, Jim reminded me that The New York Times avoids using the word which convinced me that WestView should.'
Collier wanted to use the word 'to shock' us into accepting that 'there are people who believe and use this outrageous word', Capsis added.
Collier's piece looks at the 'irreducible measure of racism' in the US and how he believes it has been bolstered by 'America's increasing tolerance of far-right opinion'.

According to its website, WestView News is distributed each month to 20,000 readers in the West Village, Greenwich Village and Chelsea neighborhoods of New York City. The paper is run by CEO George Capsis.