THE STUPID PARADE: This Week’s Worst Louisiana College Newspaper Editorials

Welcome to The Hayride’s first weekly roundup of the dumbest editorials in Louisiana’s college newspapers. Here we will bring you the worst examples of what gets published on Louisiana’s campuses.

We will feature idiotic op-eds, “news stories” masquerading as opinion pieces, and other content generated by Louisiana’s future legacy media drones. Finally, we will include the Twitter handles of the writers and the contact information for the faculty in charge of these publications in case you want to give them some feedback.

That time when racists magically became sexists……

“Today, we have a black president that doesn’t receive the respect he deserves. Innocent black men are still being killed by law enforcement, the criminal justice system still hasn’t been patched up to actually be just, and we are still continuously fighting for our alleged “God-given rights”.

We are in the same position we were in seven years ago. Yes, we do have a black president but he has also undoubtedly had to deal with certain undesired circumstances because of the color of his skin.”

[…] So, while it is great to possibly be able to make history two presidencies in a row, with Clinton fighting for the chance to be our first woman president — feminists need to know this isn’t all it’s made out to be. Having a women as the leader of the free world looks good, but it doesn’t mean that we’re one step closer to having the women’s work dollar equal the man’s.

She could be the perfect president, but it won’t matter because she’s a woman. Congress will treat her as if she were incompetent because she’s a woman, and an extremely influential person (ahem, Donald Trump) may even insult her by asking for her birth records and insulting her education.

So, there is a chance Clinton won’t be able to accomplish many things that she has/will promise. Many times because of a Republican-controlled congress that’s more interested in partisan politics and throwing tantrums on FOX News at the thought of possibly having a woman president.” — Clarke Perkins (Twitter : @ClarkePerkins), LSU Reveille April 23, 2015

White privilege alert!

“But what people like that don’t understand about this whole slavery and oppression of African-Americans thing is that white people are still benefitting from this system today.

White people benefit from the privilege of having never been owned and treated like mere property. White people benefit from this pervasive attack on the rights and livelihoods of people of color, but oftentimes don’t recognize it.

[…]Nevertheless, it is up to current generations of white folks to admit that they still reap the benefits of this inequality that stemmed from our ancestors literally owning other people. The situation in our country will not fix itself.” — SidneyRose Reynen (Twitter: @sidneyrose_TDR), LSU Reveille April 23, 2015

Slavery still exists……..in Angola State Prison

“With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that a fully functioning slave plantation exists in our very own backyard. Angola, or the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is an 18,000-acre, fully functioning plantation — complete with corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. Every physically able prisoner is required to work for 2 to 20 cents an hour for a minimum of 40 hours each week.

With over 6,000 inmates, Angola is the largest correctional facility in the U.S. by population. According to the 2010 Louisiana State Penitentiary’s Annual Report, of those prisoners, 76 percent are black. Of the employees, the majority are white, many from families that have lived and worked at Angola for generations. After all, before Angola began masquerading as a prison in 1901, it operated as a slave-breeding plantation.” –Laurel Taylor and Brittany Gondolfi, Loyola Maroon, April 17, 2015

Freedom of association? What’s that?

““Religious freedom” legislation that has been passed or is being discussed in more than a dozen states is a slippery slope to allow business owners to discriminate against anyone they are not willing to provide service to, and is legislation that must be fought.

As a foreword, no one is advocating that people’s religious freedoms be infringed upon. It is everyone’s right to practice any religion they choose or to not practice any religion at all. However, when a person becomes a business owner, it is not their right to use their religion to decide who they will render service to under the guise if it is going against their values.” –Editorial, The Nicholls Worth, April 23, 2015

News or opinion? You decide.

“As moving as each testimony was it wasn’t enough to impress legislators. One of which, fell asleep in plain view. When Teagle and a fellow UNO student had their turn, a legislator asked them what they thought should be done instead of cutting higher education. Teagle replied, “There must be…no…there is somewhere else to get the money. There has to be, without what will happen to the future leaders of Louisiana?” He was told that was not an answer. The other student looked the legislator in the eye and said, “Tax the rich.” A cheer murmured through the crowded room with scattered applause. The elephant stomped through the room. He was not asked anything else. Until a decision from legislature is officially announced, the fate of higher education in Louisiana remains in limbo.” –Meghan Henoumont, Delgado Dolphin, April 22, 2015

The problem with America, too much patriotism

“The fact that many people feel the need to be patriotic to be a “real American” is mind-blowing to me and confirms stereotypes about Americans. There’s nothing wrong with loving your country, but the effect patriotism has on some people can be terrifying.

Few Europeans dare to describe themselves as patriotic, mostly because nationalism has led to warfare.” –Markus Hüfner (Twitter: @MHufner_TDR) LSU Reveille, April 21, 2015

Here’s the cure for income inequality, a maximum wage!

“There has been talk about raising the minimum wage or revamping our tax system, but the best way to reduce income inequality is to create a maximum wage. It makes no sense that we have a pay floor but no pay ceiling.

This maximum wage doesn’t have to be a set number, but there needs to be some boundary. There’s no reason for hoarding all the money in America, especially when most of that money goes to offshore banks to evade taxes.” –Cody Sibley (Twitter: @CodySibley) LSU Reveille, April 19, 2015

Budget cuts for colleges are like bad, you know

“The recent events involving the reduction of funding to our universities and educational systems affect all of us. It will lead to lay-offs, program cuts, reduced scholarship funds and hurt the community as a whole. Fewer students will be able to attend college, meaning there will be a decrease in highly educated individuals, individuals who will later go on to innovate and create a better future for the state. I’m sorry to say, but this is only the short-term implication if we allow this to continue.

In the long-term scheme of things, if we were to let the priority of education fall so low, our state as a whole would hurt because knowledge and success is the basis of everything and is what keeps the state going. History can vouch for that. Scholars are the ones who lead civilizations to new heights, testing its bounds and doing the impossible. Education and the pursuit of knowledge are what gave us the country we have today. ” –Megan Simon, Southeastern Lion’s Roar, April 21, 2015

Finally, Grambling’s paper already doesn’t like us. We wonder why

“His article stirred up quite the controversy. Alumni, faculty and supporters filled his comment section expressing just how far from facts Boyd’s comments were. For many, the statistics he used to make his point valid were missing some key points.” –Britney Williams, The Gramblinite, April 19, 2015

Twitter handles for the faculty at the papers featured

Bob Ritter, Director of Student Media at LSU (Twitter: @rwritter)

Michael Giusti, Senior Media Advisor at Loyola (Twitter: @mdgiusti)

 

 

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