Spring Break
Demonstrators protest Barometer at Reser Stadium
Special to The Daily Barometer
Larry Coonrod
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: News
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Editor's Note:
Larry Coonrod was contracted by The Daily Barometer to provide unbiased coverage of the Saturday protest.
Coonrod, though he was not working on behalf of his employer, is a staff member of the Lebanon Express.
A racially mixed group of about 40 students and community members staged a silent protest against OSU's student newspaper, The Daily Barometer, outside Reser Stadium before Saturday's game.
Protesters were angered by what they say is the paper's refusal to publish criticism of a recent front page story urging fans to paint their faces black in a show of support for the football team during an Oct. 6 game.
On Oct. 5, the Barometer published a photograph showing a student with his face painted black that encouraged readers to "blackout" the stadium. Many who attended the game in blackface also wore afro wigs.
Demonstrators at Saturday's protest marched in a small circle carrying signs with messages such as "The Barometer Hates Black People" and "OSU 4 Ignorance Not Diverse People." As the crowd of arriving fans increased, many, unaware of the demonstration, tried to cut between the circling demonstrators. Some bullied their way through while shouting obscenities.
James, a lanky business student at OSU who refused to give his last name, shouted, "Go racism" while pumping his fist in the air as he walked by.
"That's stupid they're upset about the blackface. The fact is we were just trying to get some team spirit up. It was not racist. We needed a win," James said. Asked if he thought his shouted jibes might be taken wrong by the protestors, he replied, "I hope so."
Protesters said they were upset that the campus newspaper had waited nearly two weeks to publish Barometer columnist Renee Roman Nose's column faulting the paper over the blackout issue. They also said the paper is no longer willing to publish letters or editorials critical of the story.
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