It’s not the first time an incident like this has happened. In Ohio, a local newspaper is accused of cropping out a black Republican at a bill signing. The new legislation prohibits local schools from promoting DEI protocols for student admissions and staff hires. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law, but Ohio House Rep. Josh Williams, who is black, was cropped out of a social media image of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Ohio.News):
SB1 prohibits public schools of higher education in Ohio from promoting DEI or using DEI standards in student admissions or staff hiring considerations. Critics accuse the bill, among other things, of opening the door for racial unfairness and discrimination against minorities in Ohio.
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Williams and Lt. Governor Jim Tressel, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education Committee Chairman Tom Young (R-Washington Twp) were invited to join the Governor at the bill’s signing. The governor’s staff photographed the group together, and that photo was posted on the governor's official website for posterity.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer, while reporting on the historic and controversial nature of the bill and its possible implications, took to social media and posted the historic photo of the signing ceremony, but did so with stark and many alarming edits; Williams was cut out of the picture altogether…
The post and edited photo ignited a firestorm of shock and distress among conservative black activists in Ohio, along with demands for a public apology coming from across the state from elected officials. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has issued no apology or explanation as of publication.
Ohio.news reached out to elected Republicans in the state for comment about this controversy.
Williams noted, “This is just another example of fake news Main Stream Media changing the facts to fit their narrative in an attempt to lie to Ohioans. I was at that event, and for the Cleveland Plain Dealer to deliberately crop me out of the photo while using it to discuss the elimination of DEI in higher education is dishonest and manipulative. I call on them to issue a public apology and correction of the public record. Ohioans deserve the truth, not carefully edited propaganda.”
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In January, New York Magazine was raked over the coals for cropping out young black Republicans at an event in Washington, DC on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration. Of course, the narrative was predictable (via Hollywood Reporter):
New York magazine is on the defensive over its most recent issue’s cover, which paints a picture of an all-white celebration in Washington, D.C. on the eve of President Donald Trump’s inauguration but was revealed to have been cropped to cut out several Black attendees at the event.
This week, the cover of New York features a candid crowd shot taken at the Power 30 Awards, which according to a Reuters report, was an inauguration celebration for Trump that handed out awards to social media influencers who aided in his reelection. TikTok sponsored the event just as it resumed operations following Trump’s declaration that we would delay banning the app. The issue’s lead article, by Brock Colyar, is headlined “The Cruel Kids’ Table” which is emblazoned on the cover with a lead-in reading: “Out late with the young right as they contemplate cultural domination.”
These people, man.
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