It has been brought to our attention that an element of the front page political illustration from the Thursday Oct. 18 issue may be perceived as racist. The image was intended to be representative of the political battle between the two presidential candidates–Mitt Romney was shown holding a sword and Obama was shown holding a spear. The Arbiter had no intention of depicting the current president in any derogatory way. We went to great lengths to attempt to make the illustration equally represent both political parties and overlooked the historical context that could be seen in this depiction. That being said, we do realize how the image could be seen as offensive and apologize for any perceived slight, none of which was intended by any of the staff.
