Transgressing The Boundaries: Toward A Transformative Hermeneutics Of Black Squirrels

Haverford College issues a curious apology in the wake of a disastrous attempt at satire:

Last month, a New York City Parks Department employee named David Langlieb drew the ire of Greenpoint’s Polish community with an essay entitled “The Black Squirrel’s Burden.” In it, a narrator refers to Poles as “stupid” and “ugly,” and argues in favor of gentrification that would replace neighborhood churches with high-end retail stores.

Since the discovery of “The Black Squirrel’s Burden,” which was published in the alumni magazine of Haverford College, Langlieb’s alma mater, the author has come under heavy criticism. He recently issued a statement defending his essay as satire in the tradition of Jonathan Swift, who used the genre as a tool for social commentary. Claiming to be of half-Polish descent himself, Langlieb wrote that his intent had been to make fun of gentrification’s proponents, not Poles, and to “defend the wonderful community of Greenpoint from the forces of economic and social change.”

While the author has issued the mea culpa, and even his employer, Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe, has simultaneously distanced himself from Langlieb and praised the virtues of Poles throughout New York, some individuals who took offense at the essay are still waiting for Haverford College to apologize. They need wait no longer.

But does “upon further review we just didn’t understand what he was getting at” really count as an apology? It should stick in your gut like a Manhattan Avenue pierogi*:

Haverford College deeply regrets that an opinion-page article printed in our latest alumni magazine was clearly offensive to Polish-Americans and others. The writer’s stated intent to support residents of communities which are under siege from new arrivals was not evident since the point of view of the article was so difficult to understand . . .

OK, so what happened to the editor then? David Langlieb should really reach out to Alan Sokal!

*That’s obviously not to besmirch the wonderful restaurants in the wonderful community of Greenpoint, whose very existence is threatened by the forces of economic and social change.