Minor Threat

The next day, the space normally filled by the strip's first sketch was occupied by text labeled "Editor's Note." It read, "The editorial staff of this paper would like to express regret at this feature's tasteless assertion yesterday that Britney Spears is currently dating five black men named Muhammad. Since yesterday, we have received hundreds of calls, mostly from black men named Muhammad, asking if this is true. We assure you it is not. We would like Ms. Spears' legal representation to accept our deepest apologies. Mr. McGruder now understands such reckless and irresponsible humor has absolutely no place in the funny pages. And now, back to the feature." In the next frame, Caesar says, "So she's not dating five black men named Muhammad?," to which Huey replies, "No. But she is dating Al Sharpton."

Hilarious stuff, and obviously a joke, as anyone capable of winning a duel of wits with a department-store mannequin undoubtedly realized. But the powers at the Post were apparently still concerned about confusion, since the paper addressed the matter in its August 15 corrections section with this: "The 'editor's note' in The Boondocks cartoon on page 7F today is not from editors of the Denver Post but rather was written by the cartoon's creator and is intended to be the first of three panels [two, actually] that make up the cartoon strip."

Mark Poutenis

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Really? And Christmas presents aren't made at the North Pole and delivered by a jolly elf with a thing for red velvet?

A search of the Nexis database turned up no other examples of newspapers elsewhere in the U.S. sending a similar warning. As for the Post's gesture, it turned out to be unnecessary. A source at the paper says no one called to express confusion over the editor's note in question.

Guess Post readers are pretty smart after all. Either that, or none of them are black men named Muhammad.