The "White House Butler"

The headline of a Wall Street Journal editorial referred to former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, an Obama nominee for a Wisconsin federal judgeship who happens to be black, as the "White House Butler."

In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about the editorial, a Madison, Wisconsin attorney complained that "it is totally inappropriate to demean Judge Butler because of his race by comparing him to a butler, an occupation unfortunately stereotyped as predominantly African-American." A state representative said that the headline "harkens back to an antiquated stereotype," and a former state Supreme Court justice commented, "At the very least, it's highly insensitive. At the worst, it's racist."

From a Journal spokeswoman: "The headline was a play off of his last name, and to suggest anything otherwise is absurd."