Last month, D&S co-editor Chris Sturr posted to this blog about the January/February 2012 issue of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association (BPPA) newsletter, the Pax Centurion, which included a ridiculous and offensive rant against Occupy Boston by the newsletter’s editor, Jim Carnell. The opinion piece not only called homeless people “bums” but also suggested that the female students who took part in Occupy were “guilt-ridden, stupid college girls who offered themselves willingly to the poor and downtrodden victims of oppression.” Although the Pax is a union newsletter, its writers seem to have little loyalty to the labor movement as a whole: the May/June issue included a rant by the same Jim Carnell against UNITE HERE Local 26 members earning union wages, as well as another article addressing Occupiers that commented, “Happy Birthday you rotten Commies! Maybe your candidate for squaw I mean senator, Liz Warren (your founder) can bake you a cake.”
Since last month, the BPPA has gotten some national bad press. The high-traffic feminist blog Jezebel published an article pointing out that the most recent issue of Pax Centurion covers a lot of bases:
Misogyny? Check! Homophobia? Check! Islamophobia? Xenophobia? A defense of racial profiling, just for good measure? Check, check, and check again.
In addition, in response to complaints from multiple alumnae, Simmons College announced on its facebook page that it would no longer advertize in the Pax Centurion:
Simmons was unaware of the editorial content of the Police Patrolmen’s Association’s newsletter, and after careful review, will no longer advertise in this publication. We do intend, however, to continue our support of the scholarship fund through a direct donation.
While Simmons has no control over any of the editorial content of the many publications we advertise in, we regret our inclusion in this publication.
The Boston-based website UniversalHub reports that four more advertisers have withdrawn their support as well. Hopefully, this pressure will lead the members of the BPPA to question some of their offensive opinions. At the very least, the Pax Centurion should get a new editor who is not such a fan of racist, misogynistic, classist, and homophobic humor.