X, Wilkinsburg residents and black Pitt students approached Mr. Roboto's board of directors at a public meeting and demanded an apology. The board complied, saying they were not aware of the flier, since Roboto leaves all promotions to individual show promoters, who must be registered members of the cooperative. It is also Roboto's policy (as their Web site states) to refuse "any performer or promoter a show based on the message or content of the material to be performed (i.e. no racist, sexist or homophobic material)."

According to Roboto board member Jennifer Briselli, the group attempted to contact the promoter, who at the time worked under the moniker "Aychbe Wheatstraw." His e-mail response, reports Briselli, "included a defense of the fliers as not racist, but 'provocative.'"

Paradise Gray, an educator and musician in Wilkinsburg, was part of the group that approached Roboto about the fliers. He says the people at Roboto, "to their credit were very receptive and understanding," a sentiment echoed by X and others. Sometimes, Gray adds, progressive white people "are blinded to the fact that racism is alive and well in America and sometimes they take lightly the issues that are sensitive to us."