SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Shreveport chapter of the NAACP is calling out a local newspaper owner on what many of its members interpret as a racial slur used in one of his recent columns.
In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, the organization denounced John Settle’s use of the phrase “tar baby” in a recent publication of his newspaper, The Inquisitor.
A quick internet search of the term “tar baby” will give you the following as a definition “a difficult problem that is only aggravated by attempts to solve it.” However, that exact search will yield derogatory images of Black Americans. The hateful images that the word conjures up are why Settle’s message got the ire of local activists and everyday readers of his publication.
The Shreveport NAACP objects to Settle’s use of the phrase in an article entitled “A primer for Shreveport city council candidates” (published online March 11) to refer to specific council members up for re-election, which includes Black council members.
“We believe he is fully aware of this derogatory racial term and its negative and hurtful influence within the African American community. Yet, he still chose to use this term in his paper openly,” Dr. Montrell Whitaker, NAACP Chapter President, said.
“We call for immediate action up to and including a boycott of the Inquisitor by all advertisers, vendors, and subscribers.”
Settle removed the term from the online version of the article and apologized in a subsequent article titled “Words can have different meanings to different people.” In the follow-up, Settle explains that words often have multiple meanings. He uses the word “bad” to demonstrate this.
To further his point, Settle added that he received calls and texts from five African American friends who called him out on the poor choice of words.
According to Settle, one of those messages read, “John, I know you are not a racist and did not intend to use ‘tar baby’ in a racist fashion. But some of your readers interpreted otherwise.”
The article ends with an apology from Settle, who says he appreciates the input and correction from friends, and he regrets using the offensive phrase.
NBC 6 reached out to Mr. Settle to give him a chance to address the manner in his own words. He responded via email, asking for the term to be “read in context’ of the opinion piece.