March 2, 2016

"It was a turnabout tailor-made to delight conservative media outlets and to ignite social-media recriminations."

A scurrilous sentence in the NYT article "Racism Charges in Bus Incident, and Their Unraveling, Upset University at Albany."

There should be recriminations all around. Why invent delight in the minds of conservatives? That's really a repackaging of what seems to be your own disappointment that a terrible racist attack didn't happen! Shameful.

95 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fake but accurate!

Bay Area Guy said...

Althouse,

It's good that you find this "shameful." Really, it is.

It's naive, though, to not recognize that: (a) the NYTimes has an agenda and (b) such agenda is substantially Left of center.

So, instead of hammering these fraudulent liars (their side), the NYTimes shifts its focus on the "delight" of Conservatives (the other side).

The NYTimes, as any clear-thinking person can see, has picked sides in the cultural/economic divide.

That's why they can't report the news straight.

Barry Dauphin said...

Hillary: " America needs more love… And Republicans are racist."

tim in vermont said...

Paul Zrimsek wins the thread out of the box!

rhhardin said...

White racism today means mostly whites thinking blacks are ridiculous.

William said...

Will anyone in the media ask Hillary to disavow her support of these fraudulent students?.......Can someone ask her if she thinks George Zimmerman is guilty? Should Darren Wilson ever be allowed to work again as a police officer?

Roadkill711 said...

Crosses burning, nooses hanging, swasticas drawn, racial slurs hurled; always loudly reported as hate crimes by the MSM, but far more often than not turn out to be hoaxes. As some clever wit said: if it weren't for fake hate crimes, there would be no hate crimes at all.

Lyle Smith said...

If the media were fair they would be asking Democrats to denounce Black Lives Matter for its racism just like they want Trump to denounce white supremacists. It is kind of hard to distinguish the differences in bigotry between the two.

chickelit said...

And surprisingly, Hillary! is on the wrong side as always.

Virgil Hilts said...

I am delighted that victim-want-to-bes have to manufacture various types of attacks or assaults in order to gain sympathy from the SJW crowd. Its a nice change of pace -- and yes, delightfully amusing -- to live in a society where (with maybe a tiny number of exceptions) the only people who burn crosses or paint swastikas or put black tape across portraits of black professors any more are the alleged victims. How is that investigating at HLS going any way? Oh, they shut it down. Weird how they have never announced the results. Maybe all of the security cameras just kind of failed that morning, or maybe a few hard drives were inadvertently erased.

Rob said...

In other news of shameful practices at the New York Times, after portions of Donald Trump's off-the-record conversation with the Times editorial board were leaked by the Times, Executive Editor Dean Baquet told the Public Editor, "I don’t know how it got out, but I’m certainly not going to do a leak investigation."

Bob Boyd said...

"the allegation...was a lie."

Details!

eric said...

The story quickly changes to, these girls who were never victims but instead perpetrators, are now victims because they are getting death threats online now.

See how that works?

Always a way to spin this as they are victims.

Bob Loblaw said...

Oh look, another SJW hoax.

We don't get "delighted" anymore, since these sorts of stories are as common as dirt. You'd have to be pretty gullible to read about an allegation like that and not suspect it was a hoax.

Unknown said...

I'm sure that the speculation in the piece that all the racialized language these girls were immersed in before the bus ride is what made them do it. Nothing else could explain it.

Mike Sylwester said...

Here is a link to a website that lists Fake Hate Crimes

http://www.fakehatecrimes.org/

This incident is the newest addition (#217) to the list.

buwaya said...

"Shameful."

Hmm. Seems par for the course.
This scandal and its reception seems normal, routine, unexceptional.

Fabi said...

Calling a race crime hoax a hoax is racist. And patriarchy and shit.

FullMoon said...

Poorly educated me caught that this morning. Reporter needs to be bitch slapped. Just kidding!
That reminds me, all these stories of "Trump supporters " twittering vile, threatening racist, things to Hillary and other victims? Slim chance they may be Dem operatives, pro/am.?

No, guess not.

n.n said...

Behavior is correlated with incentive.

Perhaps we should stop repeating the same failed experiment where the outcome is already well documented. Class diversity schemes that ignore individual dignity are a rarefying paradigm that exploit bias and nurture prejudice.

traditionalguy said...

The Drama Department should teach these students better make up techniques and supply them authentic fake Nazi uniforms. I blame the school that they got outed. And a simple call to the South would have gotten them all the KKK outfits they wanted. We don't use them as much these days.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

But a terrible racist attack DID happen. A group of blacks attacked a white for racial reasons. Hate crime as well.

Big Mike said...

I've come to believe that every one of the reported incidents of racism against black college students is a hoax.

Every. Single. One.

That the latest report from the University of Albany is merest confirmation.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Is it just me, or do two of these three "black girls" not look at all black? Pale skin, straight hair ...

cacimbo said...

Hillary desperately needs black voters, but black voters are just not that enthused. The media will be racializing the most minor incidents to try and fire up blacks and get them to the polls to help Hillary. So yes, the NYT was disappointed that this incident did not fit their prefered narrative.

Mary Beth said...

One of the young men who tried to break up the fight was harassed into leaving the school. Has anyone apologized to him?

Skeptical Voter said...

Dean Baquet has the brains of a day old baguette, and the ethics of a tapeworm.

Michael K said...

"Many feared that the hard-won dialogue over racism on campus, the fragile moment of unity, would disappear under a wave of finger-pointing."

Yes, I think it might considering it was, like all these "racism:" incidents hoax.

Then we have the Islamophobia "incidents" like the mosque burglary in Minnesota.

He said the break-in is the first major incident involving a mosque in the Twin Cities since comments made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump touched off a wave of anti-Muslim commentary and some incidents of harassment nationwide. Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings in December.

The name of the burglar who has now been caught ?

Edward Zahi Moses Saad

Fabi said...

Wolf. Cried. Little boy. Some assembly required.

Hagar said...

"If it wasn't for the fake hate crimes, they would not have any hate crimes at all."

YoungHegelian said...

@Michael K.

The name of the burglar who has now been caught ?

Edward Zahi Moses Saad


Moses! I mean, it's always those goddamn Jews, isn't it?

Jupiter said...

Just for those of you who don't know, this is "the talk" that black people actually have with their kids. "Just say he/she called you the N-word, and everyone will take your side."

eddie willers said...

Althouse,

It's good that you find this "shameful." Really, it is.


Ann sometimes surprises in this way, but as Churchill once observed: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”

It won't stick.

Jupiter said...

And they do. All the time. And it works. Every time.

Mind you, I don't really blame the black people. When you have something as reliable as the knee-jerk on a posse of white liberals, you would be a fool not to take advantage. I just wish my car was as reliable as the prejudice on a white liberal.

Jupiter said...

Eddie willers said...

"Ann sometimes surprises in this way, but as Churchill once observed: “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”

It won't stick."

Actually, Althouse is already on record with the view that "a terrible racist attack didn't happen!".

Sal said...

That's really a repackaging of what seems to be your own disappointment that a terrible racist attack didn't happen!

A terrible racist attack did happen. Think out of the box.

Birkel said...

Conservatives don't hope for crimes on either end of this event. We would prefer easily understood laws were followed. We would prefer fewer malum prohibita laws, I expect.

For the NYT, everything is political.

Laslo Spatula said...

I wrote a comment that is my address to this post.

Unfortunately, it involves characters and situations that I have used before, but entails words / names that Althouse doesn't like in the stream of comments:

N*groes

M*nd*ngo

Mainly.

She is undoubtably right on this, but for those who can handle it: "The ones that aren't there but look like you, anyways.".

I am Laslo.

Gahrie said...

Why invent delight in the minds of conservatives?

Because that way the story is about how evil conservatives are, instead of how evil liberal/progressives are.

buwaya said...

Rumor just making the rounds -
Romney either to declare or threaten third party run tomorrow.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

When it became clear that the antipathy of blacks to whites was as much racism as that which Jim Crow dealt, the left redefined racism, inventing the nonsense that irrational race-based hatred is not racism if the hater feels somehow oppressed. This, of course, does nothing but make relations between the races worse, but it preserves the status of the academic race-baiters who thrive on the discord.

Job said...

When the story is favorable to the Left, then the story is the story.

When the story is favorable to the right, then the story is the dreadful use of a tragedy/patriotism/lost opportunity/whatever for political gain.

Sebastian said...

"Why invent delight in the minds of conservatives? That's really a repackaging of what seems to be your own disappointment that a terrible racist attack didn't happen! Shameful." Why, oh why? Just piling on, but still: faux indignation, right? I mean, it's who they are, it's what they do, they have no shame. Repeat. Repeat. And every time the nice cruelly neutral "observer" observes, "shameful"! how could they!

David said...

"When it became clear that the antipathy of blacks to whites was as much racism as that which Jim Crow dealt,"

Blacks have passed laws disenfranchising whites throughout the nation, banning them from schools, colleges and public accommodations and making them sit in the rear in public transportation? God, I missed that. No wonder the white people are so pissed off.

Jupiter said...

Tyrone Slothrop said...
"When it became clear that the antipathy of blacks to whites was as much racism as that which Jim Crow dealt, the left redefined racism, inventing the nonsense that irrational race-based hatred is not racism if the hater feels somehow oppressed. This, of course, does nothing but make relations between the races worse, but it preserves the status of the academic race-baiters who thrive on the discord."

A start. Definitely a start. But let's unpack this; "irrational race-based hatred".

Well. Is "hatred" ever rational? Hatred is an emotion that evolution decided, after eons of consideration, was a useful addition to the human bag of tricks. We are trying, some of us, to get beyond that. But this means we are trying to use a tool -- reason -- for a purpose it was not, ah, "designed" for. "One people, hating" is a powerful tool. All the peoples in existence possess that tool, presumably because it caused them to do things that furthered their continued existence. So, while we may wish to leave off hating, let's not be in a great big hurry to suppose that it is "irrational". Or that just because it is irrational, it is dispensable.

Before you tear down this wall, why is it there? What does it accomplish? How will you accomplish what the wall accomplishes, when the wall is gone?

David said...

"Well. Is "hatred" ever rational?"

Yes. Unfortunately far too often.

bleh said...

If I were an SJW type, I would be very embarrassed if I ever got tricked by these hoaxes into protesting. I get the sense that most of them don't really care if they end up looking like fools. The cause trumps everything. Tomorrow is another day.

Bob Loblaw said...

Blacks have passed laws disenfranchising whites throughout the nation, banning them from schools, colleges and public accommodations and making them sit in the rear in public transportation? God, I missed that. No wonder the white people are so pissed off.

You're confusing motive and opportunity.

Michael K said...

" banning them from schools, colleges "

Yes, ask the kids with higher SAT scores who did NOT get into the colleges they wanted.

"making them sit in the rear in public transportation?"

Coming. Just give them time. First, they will get them booted out of school.

Fabi said...

In other news: Department of Justice offered Clinton private server contractor (Pagliano) immunity. He's the guy who took the 5th when asked to testify before Congress. Joe Biden might refer to this as a big fucking deal.

Shouting Thomas said...

I am friends with faculty members at SUNY Albany.

Their response?

How would you like to work at a place where the president delivers this kind of "racism" lecture to his own faculty and students without proof?

Etienne said...

Carson says he's finished. Will not attend debate in Detroit, and will have an announcement Friday.

He'd be smart to endorse a non-Canadian before he leaves...

Anonymous said...

The article is even worse than Althouse makes it sound.

"Many feared that the hard-won dialogue over racism on campus, the fragile moment of unity, would disappear under a wave of finger-pointing."

Have you participated in any dialogue lately? Have you been enjoying all the unity?

David said...

Eric said...

You're confusing motive and opportunity.


No. My point was difference between motive and opportunity. I don't deny that there is black racism. But to compare present day black racism with the white racism of Jim Crow is not just a difference in degree or pervasiveness. It ignores the difference in power that make the two phenomena vastly different.

Qwinn said...

My favorite part of the Obama era is all the racial healing.

Qwinn said...

The "difference in power" is somewhat counterbalanced by the sameness of the Democrat Party deliberately encouraging the racism, pro white then, anti white now. I don't think there's been that much of a change in the Democrat Party's power between then and now.

Anonymous said...

Shame is a tool of white privilege and patriarchy that can never be applied to any sort of minority or victim group. The NYT style book permits shaming exceptions when the target is either white, male, Republican, conservative, Christian, or a minority who has lost minority status by not toeing the position the editors know that a good minority should toe.

As a teachable moment, here's one for the university students, likely more valuable than whatever they are paying tuition for: people lie. And, get this, if people know they are going to be believed without question and face little risk for telling lies, they tend to try and take advantage - particularly if there isn't a strong moral norm toward truth.

Skepticism - not just for religion. Question the power. Question the narrative.

n.n said...

Judge individuals by the content of their character (e.g. principles). Black and white are an illegitimate basis to organize and condemn individuals as a class.

rcommal said...

Let's just bring it down to stuff that happened even when I was just a kid. (I was born in 1961.)

"Nigger" and "cripple" were common terms, and those described as that were, make no mistake about it, considered lesser from the get-go.

I, myself, attended an elementary school which had no lunchroom, much less a cafeteria. In fact, I did experience small town. Those who think I didn't are flat-out wrong.

This is something I've online pointed out for, at least, I dunno, 14 years, if that's how you'd prefer I characterize that.

What a mistake you all have made, thinking that I don't know shit from Shinola.

Bob Loblaw said...

No. My point was difference between motive and opportunity. I don't deny that there is black racism. But to compare present day black racism with the white racism of Jim Crow is not just a difference in degree or pervasiveness. It ignores the difference in power that make the two phenomena vastly different.

That doesn't make the racism any different. It just represents a difference in opportunity.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Still wondering about this "Hate Crime" thing. Do both the assault and the false reporting thereof qualify as hate crimes? Will they be prosecuted as such.

There does seem to be a problem of racial hypersensitivity at the school. What could be the cause? How could that have happened with all the NYT and the University are doing to make people aware of race?

Brando said...

So even when it should be the SJWs being ashamed of buying into an increasingly prevalent lie, we're supposed to turn this on conservatives for their imagined delight that this turned out to be a lie? At long last, has the Times no shame?

We live in a time where a burning cross or a swastika in this country is more likely to be a hoax than an actual hate crime. Morons like these bus thugs once could get away with their animalistic behavior, but video cameras have foiled them even as they scratch their heads and wonder why their transparent lie didn't work (though it apparently was enough to get Clinton to condemn the actual victim).

And I think now would be a good time to push the media to start hounding Hillary into retracting her condemnation and say something about how these scum are reprehensible for playing the racism-victim card.

TheThinMan said...

Monitoring the New York Times is a horrible job but someone has to do it. Thanks, Ann, from those of us who long ago cancelled our subscription.

damikesc said...

Yeah, I don't get their disappointment that a race crime didn't occur. You'd also think they'd be more upset that it makes future claims of race crimes even harder to believe.

In other news of shameful practices at the New York Times, after portions of Donald Trump's off-the-record conversation with the Times editorial board were leaked by the Times, Executive Editor Dean Baquet told the Public Editor, "I don’t know how it got out, but I’m certainly not going to do a leak investigation."

Joe Scarborough is right --- Trump should kick EVERY NYT reporter off of his plane and not provide any press credentials for any of them. Answers must come forward, they don't seem anxious to do it, so respond accordingly.

James Pawlak said...

Black LIES Matter!!

tim in vermont said...

The intention is no doubt to warn lefties that this kind of stuff is counterproductive. Or, more likely, to tell them: "Whatever you do, DON"T GET CAUGHT!"

Michael K said...

"It ignores the difference in power that make the two phenomena vastly different."

Yes, the racists who are winning elections don't want those other people to try to win.

"Election fraud is a myth," say the people who win elections that way.

Chris N said...

Peak activist?

Can I live my life now without a politicizing movement (in highest political office) frequently encouraging people to distort facts, misunderstand the law, and become righteous victims?

Well, yes and no. This too, shall pass, but I fully expect ideologists to keep dragging the debate to where they are, and if one of them stands outside the ideology long enough to question outcomes, then new more true believin' ideologists will probably take their places.

It's like they're colonialists!

In the meantime, Gail f**king Collins and Tom Friedman in dashikis, nodding appropriately at diversity-focused editorial meetings, discovering new-found reserves of racial empathy and awareness in their columns...that's the good stuff.

Enjoy that week-old old Modo word-salad now, because soon it's some Guardian-type, fresh out of Yale, already with a hyphenated-name.

Pookie Number 2 said...

Yeah, I don't get their disappointment that a race crime didn't occur.

An actual race crime would be a horrifying experience for the victim, but the NYT would be fine with that. It just can't handle the idea of conservatives accurately defending themselves.

tim maguire said...

The fantasy conservatives that exist in the feverish imaginations of liberals are delighted. Real conservatives are slightly amused, but mostly bored. Virtually all anti-black racial incidents are hoaxes. I say virtually because there's bound to be a real one out there somewhere that I haven't heard about.

BAS said...

Actually a racist crime did happen. These 3 women were assaulting people because they were white, isn't that racist?

whitney said...

At this point, I think anyone that has been paying attention just assumes they are fake. The only difference here is that the 'mainstream media' had to report that it was a fake. Normally, by the time a racial incident has been proven untrue, they can just ignore it.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Yeah, I don't get their disappointment that a race crime didn't occur.

Two possible "race crimes:" the apparent assault by the ladies of color, and their false reporting of the incident.

bgates said...

It ignores the difference in power that make the two phenomena vastly different.

Tell the college girl who was assaulted by three people and then condemned by the Democratic nominee for President to take solace in the fact that for the two hundred years before her parents were born, things were different.

test said...

That's really a repackaging of what seems to be your own disappointment that a terrible racist attack didn't happen! Shameful.

A racial attack did happen. People who think it didn't need some introspection.

megapotamus said...

By 'tailor made' they mean it happened. Good damn thing it was taped or we would have another Ferguson/Sanders/Baltimore up in Albany, although that would be a good place for it.

Rick said...

Why didn't the NYT describe the original attack as delighting progressives?

Rick said...

said Amberly Carter, a coordinator at the university’s Multicultural Resource Center who helped organize the rally. “So do we now stop defending black women because of what happened?”

Maybe we should defend the innocent instead of picking sides based on race.

Sorry, that's crazy talk.

Rick said...

“I walked away saying, ‘I can’t tell you what happened in that video; you haven’t shown me anything to confirm what these young women are saying, and I can’t deny it either, because it’s just not clear to me,’” said Alice Green, a social justice activist and the director of the Center for Law and Justice, based in Albany.

This demonstrates the utter lack of integrity among activists. While we can't prove every detail we see more than enough in the video to conclude the perpetrators' version is a lie.

Anonymous said...

We just had our own fake racism event here in St. Louis. Cops pulled over a family for a license tag violation, someone went on "social media" and claimed the cops pulled guns, screamed at toddlers, harassed the adults, etc etc. Went viral, protests at police headquarters, black state senator spoke about the horror at a legislative committee meeting, cops are racist, tweets, on and on.

However there is video, once again! It shows the cops calmly chatting with the 19 year old driver about where he goes to college, a brief totally calm encounter, they let the driver go with a warning about his license plate and about restraining the child properly. No retraction yet from the victims.

Who could have guessed?

AvoCat

Patrick Henry was right! said...

Blogger David said...Blacks have passed laws disenfranchising whites throughout the nation, banning them from schools, colleges and public accommodations and making them sit in the rear in public transportation? God, I missed that. No wonder the white people are so pissed off.

David, have you ever been to or even read about Zimbabwe?

Dude1394 said...

Well when almost your entire political party is predicated on dividing the populace by race, sex and sexual orientation...It is not surprising that the first thing out of someone's mouth is that type of response.

It is pretty horrible that the democrats want as much racism, sexism to occur as possible so they can gain more political power, but that's what it is.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I delight whenever those lying BLM dindus are shown for what they really are.

Jeff H said...

I suspect (admittedly, with no stats to back up my suspicion) that somewhere north of 50% of all "hate crimes" in the US are in fact premeditated frauds. Of those that get major media attention, is becomes virtually self-evident that near 100% are frauds.

TrespassersW said...

"What is the truth" should be the lens that a journalist sees the world through, and the North Star that guides everything they do.

For the Lickspittle Media (tm), the lens, the North Star is always and forever "conservatives, Christians, whites, heterosexuals, and men are evil."

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

BDNYC said...
"If I were an SJW type, I would be very embarrassed if I ever got tricked by these hoaxes into protesting. I get the sense that most of them don't really care if they end up looking like fools."

Reflexively believing the "victims" doesn't make them feel foolish, it makes them feel righteous. Any liberal or moderate can feel moral outrage at actual racial discrimination against blacks, and even a Republican can be against violent, racially-motivated crimes against minorities, but it takes a true SJW to automatically take the side of the downtrodden dindu, without evidence that anyone was trodden upon at all, or against all contrary evidence. It's the ultimate in virtue signaling.

damikesc said...

Blogger David said...Blacks have passed laws disenfranchising whites throughout the nation, banning them from schools, colleges and public accommodations and making them sit in the rear in public transportation? God, I missed that. No wonder the white people are so pissed off.

I'd also ask

1) How many white folks TODAY were involved?
2) Why do they keep voting for the party that DID it?

Anonymous said...

If racism consists solely of disenfranchising people, banning them from schools, colleges and public accommodations and making them sit in the rear in public transportation, then there's no anti-black racism today. Solved another one!

Anonymous said...

To answer your question, Ann: It's clearly because only conservatives actually value honesty and decency. Note: That's not just my opinion, that's the opinion of the person you're quoting.

For everyone else: If you're ok with people being judged by the color of their skin, then you are no better than the other evil racists, the ones the Civil Rights movement was fighting against in the 60s. Because it's either about right and wrong, in which case the skin color of the targets doesn't matter, or it's about "whose ok is getting gored", in which case the entire argument for the Civil Rights movement goes away.

Chris said...

Well said, Ann. You would have thought disappointment would have been universal, not just from conservatives. Seems the only disappointment from the left is that the facts are getting in the way of "the narrative".

ALP said...

From the article: “So do we now stop defending black women because of what happened?”

Whoa, I saw what you did there - muddying the issue by taking the focus off of this particular group of black women. So let's bring the focus back to where it belongs:

Yes, we do stop defending THESE three women in this particular case.

Bob Loblaw said...

If I were an SJW type, I would be very embarrassed if I ever got tricked by these hoaxes into protesting. I get the sense that most of them don't really care if they end up looking like fools

You couldn't be an SJW unless you were immune to embarrassment and self reflection.

Fen said...

You have to understand that SJWs are just compensating for being douche bags in their normal lives. Its doesn't matter if the narrative is false, what matter is being able to say "I took a stand to fight racial injustice!"

Its an Indulgence (the old Catholic kind) where all their future sins are forgiven if the fight for the Cause: "Sure, maybe I made a pass at the babysitter, but I BELIEVE in world peace, so I can't be a total loser"

Moneyrunner said...

NY Times Upset that racist attack of black girls on a white girl was really a racist attack by black girls on a white girl and the attackers are under attack.

Moneyrunner said...

The trauma for the NY Times writer was intense. The old familiar theme of white racists lynching blacks- and in New York yet - was tailor made for rallies and marches; an opportunity to signal their virtue and renounce again the imaginary KKK that they "know" is in their midst. Now the signs, the banners, all the carefully rehearsed chants, the drumming and the synchronized finger snapping will have to be put pack in the closet until the next hoax can be organized.