Essay Thirty-Three

Dumb Black folks make dumb White folks even dumber.

This cultural phenomenon occurred again thanks to the fiasco involving minority students at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois (mentioned in earlier essays).

The dumb Black person in this case is Alicia Hardin, the student who allegedly created the hoax.

The dumb White person is Steve Chapman, a newspaper editor who wrote the following viewpoint:

Phony racism and the allure of victimhood.

Racism is on the verge of extinction in this country, judging from the latest evidence. There is no way to precisely measure how much is left, but it appears to be in such short supply that we're forced to manufacture an ersatz version to take its place.

Recently, three minority female students at Trinity International University in Deerfield received racist letters, including one that mentioned a gun. Students, faculty and administrators were shocked. They should have been skeptical. Instead of being the deranged work of some angry white male, law enforcement officials concluded, the letters were fakes — written by an African-American student who hoped the incident would persuade her parents to let her transfer to another school.

You would think those concerned about racism would breathe a sigh of relief. Not quite. Rev. Jesse Jackson somehow managed to convey that the fraud actually proved the presence of bigotry. "Racism, whether it is actual or manipulated, is morally wrong," he declared. "We must work to clean up the environment that makes such a hoax believable, a hoax that does harm to so many individuals and the institution."

Talk about blaming the victim. This was not "manipulated" racism, because there was no racism to manipulate: It was pure fantasy. And the "environment that makes such a hoax believable" is one that Jackson and many other black leaders have assiduously cultivated for decades.

Any institution that includes white people (Trinity's student body is 74 percent white and 13 percent black) is assumed to be simmering with barely suppressed prejudice against African-Americans and other minority groups — which threatens to erupt at any moment. That's why just about everyone who heard the original allegation assumed it must be true.

It would have made more sense to assume it must be false. In recent years, there have been numerous instances where students and even professors have invented racial threats or attacks. The Los Angeles Times reported last year that "since 1997, more than 20 such hoaxes have been confirmed or suspected." Tawana Brawley inspired a legion of imitators.

In 2003, a Latino freshman at Northwestern University reported finding anti-Hispanic graffiti outside his dorm room and being accosted by a racist attacker who held a knife to his throat. The campus reacted as campuses normally do: with shock, horror and a rally for unity.

A student government officer said, "It's our fault, it's all our faults. What are we doing, here at NU, to make someone feel comfortable about doing this?" One letter to the student newspaper said, "To eliminate racism, we must extricate it from the hidden, seething channels in which it thrives."

In time, the supposed victim admitted he had made it all up. Apparently, hatred was not seething or thriving in Evanston after all. But no one was heard saying the hoax proved racism was not a widespread and serious problem at Northwestern. The assumption is that racism is a widespread and serious problem on every college campus.

Racial prejudice still exists in American society, but these are about the least likely places to find it expressed or excused. If there is any subject on which no one dares to raise a peep of dissent at a university, it's that bigotry against people on the basis of race, sex or sexual orientation is absolutely unacceptable. Most university administrators and faculty, far from being complacent about racism, are practically obsessed with it.

But instead of neutralizing the issue, this preoccupation exaggerates its extent and importance. Why do unscrupulous students resort to hoaxes involving racism rather than claim they have been the targets of random street crime or identity theft? Because these students know there is no way to gain so much attention and sympathy.

"The one thing they're absolutely certain of is that to be the victim of hate speech gives you a victim status and all the special consideration that goes with that," says Shelby Steele, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and author of a forthcoming book, "White Guilt." Whites in positions of authority, like those running universities, are vulnerable to such deception, he says, because they are terrified of being labeled hostile to minorities.

But hypersensitivity, far from dissolving racial barriers, acts to reinforce them. Racial prejudice will never entirely disappear from college campuses, any more than sloth, lust, greed, envy or any other human vice will ever be eradicated. But when phony hate crimes become more of a problem than real ones, it's time to obsess about something else.

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There are probably many people who will agree with Chapman’s perspective. He makes some valid observations. But there are plenty of disturbing elements to consider as well.

For starters, Chapman’s opening lines (Racism is on the verge of extinction in this country, judging from the latest evidence. Blah, blah, blah…) are particularly irritating. Sarcasm about racism produces a different reaction when delivered by White folks. It’s one thing for Richard Pryor or Chris Rock to deliver such wisecracks. Coming from a White editor of a major newspaper, it feels irresponsible, condescending and even misinformed.

The logic behind Chapman’s opening lines kinda sucks too. Does this mean the recent “Runaway Bride” hoax in Georgia (and the many similar scenarios in the past few years) demonstrates kidnappings and violent crimes are on the verge of extinction? Do the acts at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prove all our soldiers are torturous rapists? Are Catholic priests pedophiles because of the crimes of select peers? Chapman’s conclusions appear to be based on the negative stereotyping that fuels biased thinking and problems like racism.

Chapman also wrote, “[Trinity International University officials and students] should have been skeptical,” and, “It would have made more sense to assume [the threat posed by the letters] must be false.” Is Chapman implying the decision to evacuate minority students was an overreaction? Given all the recent school and workplace shootings, the cautionary measures taken by university officials seem highly justified and appropriate. Assuming threats to be a hoax is a reckless tactic.

Chapman later revealed, “since 1997, more than 20 such hoaxes have been confirmed or suspected." Big, fucking deal. The worst hack reporter could easily uncover more than 20 legitimate racist acts — that have taken place in the last 20 minutes!

Chapman attempts to argue today’s college campuses are unlikely places for racism to exist. Unfortunately, the editor failed to read his own newspaper, because the very edition featuring his commentary included a story about racist remarks made by Larry Cochell, the University of Oklahoma’s ex-baseball coach.

Finally, Chapman fortifies his position with quotes from Shelby Steele. It’s surprising that Clarence Thomas and Booker T. Washington weren’t quoted too.

Without a doubt, Alicia Hardin’s writings were really, really dumb.

Yet Steve Chapman’s weren’t much better.