"I doubted Jussie Smollett. It breaks my heart that I might be right."

Writes Nana Efua Mumford, "the executive assistant to The [Washington] Post’s editorial board."

I can't understand why anyone would want to admit that they're happier to know that a racist, homophobic violent attack took place than that one person told a big lie.

I wanted to believe Smollett. I really did. I know that there is a deep, dark racist history in Chicago and, if proved true, this would be just one more point on the list. I wanted to believe him with every fiber of my being, most of all because the consequences if he were lying were almost too awful to contemplate.

So it would be okay knowing that there was a horrible attack because you're so certain that so much more of the same out there?

She says "I need this story to be true," because otherwise people will be dubious of claims of "racist hate crimes or sexual violence" and more likely to buy into the notion that "there is a leftist conspiracy to cast Trump supporters as violent, murderous racists." Ironically, Mumford's column itself bolsters the belief that there's a big effort to misrepresent Trump supporters. She's saying she wants the hateful image of Trump supporters to stick. She was (and still is) hoping for Smollett's story to hold up. She's admitting she is an actively biased recipient of evidence.

In that light, it's interesting to read her crisp summary of how suspicious she was all along:

I tried telling myself that it is possible that two assailants were walking around downtown Chicago at 2 a.m. in January in 10-degree weather, waiting for a black victim. In addition to that, they were stalking around with a bottle of bleach and a rope. And ultimately, the prey they selected was an actor on a show that they must’ve been somewhat familiar with, because they were able to not only name the show but also know that he played a gay character. Never mind the fact that he was likely bundled up because again: Chicago, January, 10 degrees. Also, after he fought to get away, he left the rope around his neck until he got to the hospital....

There are over 2,000 comments on this column. The most-up-voted one, by a lot, is:

I'm black, and I and all my black friends doubted this story from the get-go.

A guy who has received death threats goes out alone at 2 a.m. in below-zero temperature because he got the midnight munchies? Nuh-uh. He'd go out with his security team, or send his security guys out to get it for him, or (most likely) have it delivered. This smelled like a hookup gone bad.

Smollett has done incalculable damage. God help the next victim of a real racist attack. Nobody is going to believe him because of this idiot.