Roxboro publisher steps down after uproar over editorial cartoon

The editor and publisher of the Roxboro Courier-Times resigned on Tuesday, a day after a racist editorial cartoon raised questions well beyond the paper's readership.

Posted 5:30 p.m. Jun 16, 2020 — Updated 5:46 p.m. Jun 16, 2020

The editor and publisher of the Roxboro Courier-Times resigned on Tuesday, after an editorial cartoon raised questions well beyond the paper's readership.

Johnny Whitfield apologized in a phone call with WRAL News and in a column in the newspaper, writing, "In this case my judgment fell short. I should have seen beyond the printed words in the editorial cartoon and considered the racial message that cartoon sent. I did not and I am sorry. In talking with a number of people this week, it is clear to me that I failed to do my job adequately."

He wrote that the paper would no longer print cartoons submitted by the person who drew the cartoon in question.

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