Newspaper apologizes for cartoon that uses N word for Obama

A school newspaper in New Jersey has apologized for running a cartoon that referred to Barack Obama using the N word.

Mark Mueller of The Star-Ledger in New Jersey reports that editors of the student newspaper at Montclair State University issued a campus-wide apology after angry students complained to the university officials.

The cartoon ran Thursday in The Montclarion newspaper, which has a circulation of about 4,000, the Star-Ledger reported. The controversy erupted despite the fact that the comic strip, "The K Chronicles," is actually created by an African-American syndicated cartoonist, Keith Knight, who is said "to use satire and humor to confront issues of race," the Star-Ledger reported.

"The Montclarion relied on others to judge content appropriateness, rather than making this choice as a staff decision," said Bobby Melok, the editor-in-chief of the student paper. "It is never The Montclarion's intention to offend its readership, and we sincerely apologize to all who were upset with this comic," he wrote on the paper's web site.

The creator of the comic strip defended the cartoon. "In all seriousness, the strip is based on some true incidents that happened to canvassers in some battleground states," Knight wrote on his web site.

"Is it offensive? Yes. Is it sad? Sure. But that's the reality of the United States and this very unique election," said Knight. "The comic is pointing out one aspect of it. Straight-up racists are prepared to pull the lever for a black man. While some folks out there, who never thought they were prejudiced, aren't going to vote for him because of his skin color. Should we ignore stuff like this? I don't think so. Should it be in a comic strip. Yes!!"

Not everyone on campus was convinced. One black student described the feeling of seeing the comic strip in the paper. "My heart just dropped when I read it," Tamar VanDerVeer told the Star-Ledger. VanDerVeer was described as a 21-year-old senior who serves as secretary of the Organization of Students for African Unity. "The ignorance is really uncalled for," said VanDerVeer.