Conservative trolls force VA to back down on ban of this problematic photo

An hour and a half. That’s how long it took for the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs to cave to conservative trolls on X who called out a departmental policy that forbade the display of a problematic though iconic photo—that shows a totally non-consensual kiss.

The backstory: On February 29, an assistant undersecretary sent out a memo asking that the famous photo showing a U.S. sailor forcefully kissing a woman in Times Square on the day World War II ended be removed from public view. The photo is problematic, to say the least: the woman being “kissed,” Greta Friedman, said she didn’t know the sailor who kissed her, and that the kiss was forced. Speaking in 2005, Friedman told the Library of Congress, “It wasn’t my choice to be kissed. The guy just came over and kissed or grabbed.” 

The memo asked the photo be removed from public display in an effort to maintain “a safe, respectful, and trauma-informed environment,” going on to say the photo is “inconsistent with the VA’s no-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment and assault.”

Then, yesterday, at 8:30 a.m. ET, a fascist-leaning troll account on Twitter with 2.3 million followers posted a copy of the memo. Faster than you can say “spineless liberal,” the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Denis McDonough, tweeted that the problematic image was in fact not banned, and would remain in VA facilities. Two unnamed sources did further damage control, telling the AP that McDonough never approved the memo and rescinded it once informed that it had been sent out. Even the White House tried to distance itself from the fallout.

But but but: Critics say that despite the photo’s popularity, displaying—and even celebrating—an image that shows sexual harassment by a male in authority over an unsuspecting woman sends a negative message about what is allowed and considered acceptable in our society. At the very least, the VA could have used the opportunity to explain why the photo is controversial, rather than rolling over so quickly to conservative hate accounts.

🗞️ Making news right now…

Here are the top stories making news this morning.

• Nikki Haley will end her campaign: After winning just one state in yesterday’s Super Tuesday elections, Haley says she will suspend her campaign.

• “Uncommitted” strikes again: Also in yesterday’s election, 20% of voters in Minnesota’s Democratic primary voted “uncommitted” to send a message to Biden about his support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

• Farewell, douchebag: “Corrupt egomaniac” Kyrsten Sinema says she’s leaving the U.S. Senate, leading many progressives to rejoice.

• A team—and now—a union: The men’s basketball team at Dartmouth University voted 13 to 2 in favor of joining a union, a first in the fight for athletes to get their fair share in the billion-dollar industry of collegiate sports.

➡️ Question of the Day

We want to know: What do you think of that iconic—yet problematic—photo? Vote below and tell us why in the comments!

Yesterday’s results: Yesterday we asked: Do you trust the media? You voted…

Oljgrandma voted no and said: “The Media has it's own agenda and very often are lying.”

JCFwind also voted no: “Follow the Money: They are distorted by corporations with concern for only their profit and loss.”

While Dick said yes: “The media is not the root problem for me, the problem is more about what we consumers do with the information we take in. We all need to be more analytical of the message and the source of the message.” Yes indeed.

👀 Stories kept out of your feed…

Here are some stories the algorithms may be keeping out of your feed.

On politics, outside of Super Tuesday…

• The frightening way the Supreme Court could swing the election for Trump.

• NYT says the White House is trying out a new strategy: “Let Joe be Joe.”

• Dream candidate Michelle Obama responds to renewed rumors that she might run for president. 👀

On Gaza…

• When you thought it couldn’t get worse: A new U.N. report says Palestinians have been ‘beaten and sexually assaulted’ at Israeli detention centers.

• Three days of negotiations between Israel and Hamas have failed to achieve a breakthrough on a peace deal, less than a week before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the informal deadline for a deal.

• Trump finally weighs in on Gaza, makes predictably horrible remark.

• The Washington Post’s resident flamethrower Karen Attiah argues why Black women should not be the face of America’s ugly Gaza policy. “#RepresentationMatters only goes so far.”

On corporate greed…

• President Biden is launching a task force to crack down on “unfair and illegal pricing” amid rising inflation.

• Meanwhile: Credit card companies are threatening the amount of credit they’ll extend to consumers if Biden limits all late fees to $10.

• Speaking of fees, Delta just became the third major U.S. carrier to hike this annoying fee over the past several weeks.

On climate change…

• Scientists decide they won't classify Anthropocene as 'epoch' yet, but (of course) say human impact is undeniable.

• Meanwhile: Ice-free summers in the Arctic are now possible within next decade—and that’s very bad news for animals.

📰 Good News: The oldest Black college newspaper hits historic milestone

Its journalists have covered Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights protests, and protests against apartheid. Its alumni have gone on to win Pulitzers. And now, the nation’s oldest Black college newspaper has hit another milestone: Howard University’s The Hilltop just turned 100 years old.

“This is so important to the Black press as a whole,” the paper’s current editor in chief, senior Jasper Smith, recently told the public media station WAMU. Noting the systematic underfunding of HBCU’s, Smith pointed out the unlikeliness of this milestone, and what that means for student journalists yet to come.

Students got to celebrate last month at a gala at the National Press Club, and Smith says they’re devoted to carrying on the great legacy of this student publication. “I feel so inspired and it inspires our current staff to think of the legacy that we’ve inherited and what that means every time we pick up a pen and paper.”

Today, we salute the student journalists, past, present, and future of The Hilltop. 🍾