WaPo reports the least surprising news of the week, and this is why I said from the start that this story should never have been reported, certainly not with the little girl’s name.
ADDED: Here’s what I wrote in the comments 2 days ago:
I’m blogging this story because I believe there are many adults in the picture here, including the people at the NYT, who are not doing enough to protect this child. Whether the story arose 100% from a real life incident or whether it’s all made up or somewhere in between, the girl’s needs are the overwhelming top priority and every adult with anything to do with this should do all they can to help and protect her.
I don’t know that the boys have been named and accused. It sounds like they go to the school and would be easily identifiable. If particular boys are accused, then treating them fairly is also paramount. If the boys are not named, then it’s very hard to believe the story.
As I read it, the story emerged after interaction with the grandmother. The child might have been pressured and asked leading questions and had no idea of what a big deal it would become. That’s why her name and picture should never have come out before an investigation. Even after an investigation, I wouldn’t burden her life with this story, whether it’s true or false.
पोस्ट्स
२०७ टिप्पण्या:
207 पैकी 1 – 200 नवीन› नवीनतम»Apology not accepted.
But the feelings of little girls with runaway imaginations are nothing compared to the Bad Orange Man and his deplorable racist supporters who must be silenced and expunged.
It was irresistible to the MSM because Mrs Pence taught there and they could connect to Trump racism through the VP
"this story should never have been reported"
I appreciate the nice sentiment. But the world is not nice: progs will use any story that fuels their narrative. Even if it turns out to be another fake hate crime, the story will have done some damage, and, usually, neither prog journalists nor the faking fakers are held accountable.
As seems to always be the case. But how anyone can expect our media to behave better is beyond my comprehension.
Knew the same thing. Will this be reported as avidly as the accusation? A completely winnable bet. The answer is no. And THAT alone is enough to call every media outlet that reported it originally but will not follow up with the same telling at the same media level of its falsity at the same time is dishonest, lacking in journalistic integrity.
Or lets accurately call it a small evil.
When you're right, you're right.
When does WaPo issue an apology to the girl and her family? They failed to follow even minimal journalistic ethics.
Good thing they didn't name the boys (although how many can their be in the girl's class?). And what about the inserting of VP Pence's wife into the false story?
No wonder their integrity and veracity are questioned.
"Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker" says the window text on the linked story.
Great journalism.
Why should false claims be reported any less vigorously than those found to be true?
Both are important if people are to know what’s happening.
Democracy Dies in Darkness!
My go-to attitude on these things is they are all fake.
When was the last time a "hate Crime" was not a hoax ?
A false racial clam?
What. A. Surprise.
apologies, we don't need them,
https://dailycaller.com/2019/09/30/kim-gardner-skips-court-date/
The diversity racket almost cancelled three, perhaps four, innocent lives, and based on liberal precedents would have progressed to something catastrophic. Also, 1/2 American. One step forward, two steps backward.
Time for the evergreen:
"The demand for racist horrors greatly exceeds the supply."
Cue up David Crosby's, "Almost Cut My Hair."
So, was her hair never cut, which means that the parents are culpable, or did she cut it herself and made the story up?
Waiting for the WaPo to assign a team of investigating correspondents for the "rest of the story."
Such stories about minors can be reported in two cases:
1) The minor is a colored girl who is accusing a Christian school of racism, and Vice President Pence's wife works in the school.
2) The minor is a White boy who attends a Roman Catholic school in a Southern state and he is accused of racism.
In most other cases -- for example, when the minor is a close relative of a Washington Post journalist -- the story may not be reported.
I will say, good for them for publicly exonerating the boys. She (or her family) could have tried to brazen it out, and if the school backed away from imposing discipline based on having doubts, the family probably would have been even bigger winners in the court of public opinion.
And the original posters and commentators delighted in pointing out the Pence connection to this alleged "hate crime."
Looking forward to seeing the apologies and walk-backs.
Democracy Dies in Darkness!
Democracy with "benefits" and acceptable collateral damage... Not this time. A positive development.
so, she's now a Minor, that committed a crime; and had her name reported In The Paper; BY THE PAPER
That's not just wrong, i'm pretty sure it's a crime
I didn’t comment the other day because I didn’t want to suggest this was made up, but - kinda had a hunch.
It was “nappy” that twitched the needle on my BS meter. As a boy I just wasn’t familiar with the word or the concept. Someone had to tell me the word, to explain to me that it was cruel.
I don't know whether she made up the story of her own initiative or from prodding from adults. Either way, I am proud of her for admitting it was false. That can be a hard thing to do, especially when so many adults appear to be invested in it being true.
As happens way too often, Steve Sailer was there first (and he didn't publish her name).
The corrupt liar leftwing narrative lives another day. Onto the next scam.
A Madison woman reported a man approached her from behind and told her “That’s a crazy head of hair you’ve got.”
We believe her!
Friday in the NYT:
Black Virginia Girl Says White Classmates Cut Her Dreadlocks on Playground
Today in WapPo:
Virginia sixth-grader now says she falsely accused classmates of cutting her hair
Looks like Bill Maher made a big impression with his request to focus less on color.
Corrections to my comment at 12:32 PM
1) The minor is a Girl of Color who is accusing a Christian school of racism, and Vice President Pence's wife works in the school.
2) The minor is a White boy who attends a Roman Catholic school in a Southern state and he is wearing a MAGA hat and he is accused of racism.
Please make the mental corrections.
The revelation that it was false should be reported much more vigorously, becuase it exonerates the wrongly accused, and can mitigate the racial animus the false story may have caused. Those two things make the new revelation an actual newsworthy story which the false story was not. A an unproven falsehood should not be so easy to print, but a valuable justice-producing truth should have the fast track.
As I read it, the story emerged after interaction with the grandmother.
As I read it, the story emerged after it could be linked to the Trump Administration.
This apology story leaves out the intensely racial words “nappy” and “dreadlocks.” The mutes the reckless damage of the original reporting. These words, to my eye, made the story look made up. Too good to be true... if by good what is meant is the terrible racism we’ve been gesticulating about is really true.
When we are kids we all do dumb things. Fortunately, not all of us have the NYT to amplify the stupid things we do.
Now this poor girls shame is amplified, thanks to the NYTs trying to get Karen Pence.
So stupid.
I was just reading thru an entire Twitter thread where everyone was yelling things like, "Why hasn't Karen Pence spoken out against this great evil yet!" All from 2 days ago.
And that's why they ran this story. To get at pence. Period.
And now this poor little girl has her shame amplified nationally.
So evil.
Same here. I knew no young kid in 2019 used that term. That was an adult.
@roger
He didn’t get that before me. I just declined to blog it on the first day, because I didn’t want to add to the damage.
It happens all the time. As a matter of fact, Elizabeth Warren is still lying about Mike Brown having his hands up. The Media lies, the Politicians run with it...and NOBODY apologizes when the HOAX is uncovered.
It didn't happen this time, but there is a risk with near and clear precedents, that the ball of yarns will unwind with explosive force. I wonder why this story was not viable in the present.
When will there be repercussions for the media outlets that reported this straight despite the glaring red flags?
This was not a news story, it shouldn't have run anywhere. It should have been a school matter handled quietly among those directly involved.
If a 12-year-old girl wears dreadlocks to any school, she is going to get at least a lot of disdain and mockery. That's what happens in any sixth-grade class.
Part of the problem here is that the girl apparently is not receiving good advice and control from her parents. The girl already is dressing for failure instead of dressing for success.
"These words, to my eye, made the story look made up. Too good to be true... if by good what is meant is the terrible racism we’ve been gesticulating about is really true."
But it gets them all excited. I suspect they drool at the prospect of finding racism, even among naive children. I find the desire to see such a thing pretty disgusting. They actually enjoy racism, even the fake stuff. It's that's delicious.
He didn’t get that before me.
Sailer blogged it before you did, and he said "I’m going to leave out the 12-year-old girl’s name because, well, she’s 12."
What does "get that" mean, and how do you know Sailer didn't "get that" before you did?
I just declined to blog it on the first day, because I didn’t want to add to the damage.
It's good to wait a day before adding to damage.
You've talked before about your not liking children being used for political purposes - maybe make a tag for it? In my surfing you're the only one really raising the issue.
It was grandma who stirred the pot. Mom and Dad are ashamed and their apology statement — a thing of beauty, actually — shows it. The giveaway tell in the original story for me was the word “nappy.” I never heard anyone use it until Don Imus used it a decade or more ago.
Where would a 12 year-old girl get the idea that it's much more believable that white kids did this to her? It's kind of like when white women lie and say it was a black man who assaulted them. Racism is like a spicy sauce that gets lies gobbled up.
I seem to be in a minority on this point, but I was impressed with the fulsome and forthright apology from the girl's family.
“To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused. To the administrators and families of Immanuel Christian School, we are sorry for the damage this incident has done to trust within the school family and the undue scorn it has brought to the school. To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust.
We understand there will be consequences and we’re prepared to take responsibility for them. We know that it will take time to heal, and we hope and pray that the boys, their families, the school and the broader community will be able to forgive us in time.”
I would be interested in a fuller exploration of adult participation/provocation in this; but I'm fully prepared to believe that the girl came up with the story on her own, perhaps after having botched a self-haircut. And I don't blame the grandparents for believing her and asking the school to investigate.
I posted a comment in the Althouse cafe on Sunday in which I noted that the Washington Post seemed to be subtly backing away from the story; that made me wonder if we would see a retraction of this type. (Though this retraction is about as unequivocal as it could be, and I'm not sure that I expected that.)
"if by good what is meant is the terrible racism we’ve been gesticulating about"
Society gets more of what is rewarded. It is currency in a large section of society to be the victim of a racial attack, or to be the allies of a victim, as long as the races are right. Hence, more hoaxes because demand for hate crimes outstrips supply. It's simple economics.
About 20 people here suspected it was false.
What is interesting to me that such a young girl would make up a false story, play the race card and go along with the lie. It is all about the culture.
My guess would be that some of her girlfriends cut her hair, because girls sometimes do that sort of thing, not appreciating the semi-permanent nature of the change, the grandmother was horrified and yelled at her, and she made up a false story trying to deflect her grandmother's wrath. Children are immature and irresponsible, and that's fine; what's disturbing is that the supposed adults at the major establishment institutions are just as immature and irresponsible.
I am sure lefty race baiting websites like The Root and Splinter will apologize any minute now...
I'm thinking that even my lib friends are beginning to "wait 48 hours" before they jump in. They were all over the Covington boys and Jesse Smollett - until evidence finally emerged. Lots of, okay maybe not true. . .BUT...…. There was always a "but".
This story? Not a word from them - no twitter, no FB posts.
Maybe they were too busy obsessing over impeachment. According to one, last Thursday was the first day they ever woke up and heard the words "impeachment" and "Trump" in the same sentence. Guess they slept through the last 3 years.
The smear got more attention, more clicks, stroked more confirmation biases, swelled more breasts with righteous disdain for Karen Pence. Mission accomplished.
The truth was never anything but incidental to a useful story.
From the WaPo story, it is absolutely clear that she named names of the (innocent) boys. She committed a crime, false report, that was motivated in great part by racial animus against whites.
To describe her as a victim is wrong. At a minimum, she deserves to to expelled from the school. These hoaxes are hate crimes. I suspect if the races were reversed, everyone could see that. Instead, as with Jussie Smollett, they are excused as "victimless crimes" when exposed. And so they continue.
I'm legitimately shocked that the ruse is being reported by a MSM publication.
"the least surprising news of the week..."
Yes. Before the Tawana Brawley fiasco, I don't remember fake claims like this being so routine that this would have qualified as the least surprising news of the week. Sad comment on life in contemporary America that times have evidently changed.
Here's what I wrote at the time, which is still accurate:
The left needs this hate to be true to justify their hate.
Love this article from The Daily Kos:
3 white boys allegedly cut black girl's dreadlocks at Christian school where Karen Pence teaches
Which includes this comparison:
Amari says that after the attack by the boys, "They ran off laughing, and I was just sitting there." The image of white boys laughing after attacking women is particularly disturbing, especially when one considers Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony about two young men, including now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and their “uproarious” laughter at her expense during their attack. Haunting.
They can take their apology, print it on a piece of paper, roll it into a tight ball and shove it up their ass.
This crap will never stop until people have to suffer for making it up.
Infinite Monkeys: Sober, sage and correct. Not the first kid to make up stuff to save her bacon. Won't be the last. Girl and family did the right thing about a wrong thing.
The original story caused the bullshit detector to redline immediately.
The White Oppressor narrative of Social Justice "hate whitey" racists always defaults to instant belief of racists accusations directed at white people. It is the same dynamic as the white women afforded instant credibility when accusing black men of sexual crimes back before the civil rights era.
Nearly 50% of that school’s students are black. The idea that three bullies are going to pull a stunt like that when the retribution would be certain shows how foolish reporters - and school administrators - really are.
So, was her hair cut or not?
So, was her really cut or not?
Stevew wonders about apologizing to the grandparents, but not to the school, the adult gratuitously named (Karen Pence), the boys in her class, or the readers. Of all the people the WaPo owes an apology too the grandmother is the least worthy.
Shame on the NYT. What should have been a silly, childhood foible is now national news.
I wonder how many millenial journalists desperately seeking out the next Great American Hate Crime have ever heard the name Tawana Brawley?
The reference to "nappy hair" doesn't strike me as all that telling, given that there is an award-winning children's book called -- you guessed it -- "Nappy Hair." From the book flap via Amazon:
"Now in Dragonfly: a lively, empowering story about Brenda's knotted-up, twisted, nappy hair and how it got to be that way! Told in the African-American "call and response" tradition, this story leaps off the page, along with vibrant illustrations by Joe Cepeda.
Winner of a Parenting Reading Magic Award"
I'll bet she or her buddies cut them on a dare, or as an "I'll show you" directed at her grandmother.
There was an incident at a high school wrestling match, before this incident, where the wrestling referee, I believe, made one of the students wrestlers cut his dreadlocks or forfeit the match.
Maybe that incident primed the "right people" enough to jump on this story, seeing a possible pattern develop right before them.
No excuse, however not to check this thoroughly.
BTW. I'm unfollowing anybody who tweets gleefully in any way about this. I believe this is tragic.
shoot... it's in moderation.
Grandparents:
To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust.
No. Don't APOLOGIZE to them. They are your unindicted co-conspirators. Anyone who "rallies" in outrage within 24 hours of a claim is as guilty as the hoaxer.
Principal:
While we are relieved to hear the truth and bring the events of the past few days to a close, we also feel tremendous pain for the victims and the hurt on both sides of this conflict. We recognize that we now enter what will be a long season of healing.
Victims on "both sides"? The reason for such an absurd statement is that it was made, as all these things are, under the specter of sheer terror.
This apology story leaves out the intensely racial words “nappy” and “dreadlocks.” The mutes the reckless damage of the original reporting. These words, to my eye, made the story look made up.
That's where they lost me, too. "Nappy"? No kids use that word. No white kids, anyway. So, where did it come from?
This apology story leaves out the intensely racial words “nappy” and “dreadlocks.” The mutes the reckless damage of the original reporting.
Nappy and dreadlocks WERE the original reporting - the entirety of it.
Without those two words, it's just a white kid cutting a black kid's hair.
That's a dog bites man story.
She's learning black culture. She'll be able to support herself with it when she grows up.
It's all the same to the media. They made their money spreading the lie of a child just as they'll continue to make their money while reporting on the child once she's admitted it was a lie. They don't have to stick around to pick up the pieces.
Rumor is security cameras proved story false. Not a guilty conscience.
Grandparents are disgusting for making it a big deal before facts came out.
Leaned towards suspecting the girl lied to cover up cutting her own hair,or
other girl(s)she is afraid of did it. Upon reflection the complex story of three
particular boys doing it makes me think she has a previous problem with these 3 kids.
Next up, these three boys have been harassing her and bullying her all year long and she had no choice but to fake this story..
Blogger Bay Area Guy said...
A false racial clam?
What. A. Surprise.
When the demand is greater than the supply you get knock-offs.
Shocked faces abound!
But, you know.."If it rings true, it is true."
Ann, you are certainly right about the NY Times, the reporter and the editors, regarding this story.
And it brings me to say that I read the NY Times every morning in the '70s and early '80s, but gradually lost interest because it seemed to me the factual reporting lost to the advocacy reporting.
Wait, nappy is racist? What happened to usage as the guide. You have to look and see in the individual case. I can't see offhand where it would ever be racist but maybe somebody can supply an example.
Not a chinaman's chance it's racist, in my opinion.
I didn't read the original WaPo story, but none of the pull quotes - here or elsewhere - included the fact that almost 50% of the students are "persons of color". Did they have the teeeensy leeetle detail about the racial composition of this school in the story when they first ran it, or did they stealth edit that part in when they ran the correction?
Life will be more difficult for this child now because the leftmediaswine were impelled to exploit her to forward the current narrative. She and her lie are famous. Schoolyard antics now allow the Democrat surrogates at the NYT, WaPo, etc. to malign whites AND Christians in one fell smear. Bonanza!
Life in America is just one big principal’s office peopled by progressive scolds.
>>"“The sixth-grade girl at a private Virginia school who accused three classmates last week of forcibly cutting her hair now says the allegations were false...”"<<
But then we knew that, of course, when the claim was made. Didn't we? I did.
It would be so refreshing for there to have been an actual attack when a Black makes the next big splash with a claim of a racist attack. It would be novel indeed.
What I want to know, and can't determine is this- who contacted the NYTimes in the first place? That person should be publicly shamed ruthlessly. I mean, someone had to be the person who, on hearing of this story, contacted the NYTimes and told them this story and that Pence's wife sometimes taught there. Who was that person?
Dreadlocks are a mode of armament. Carrying many guns of the same type.
The family did their best - admitted the truth, acknowledged the damage and said they were sorry. There's plenty wouldn't have done any of that. Really, an 11-year-old girl probably sat with a magazine picture in front of her and tried to cut to match it while looking in the mirror and wouldn't admit she made the resulting mess. That's all she did and she's not the first girl in America to do that. The damage was done by the newspapers and TV which can't evaluate stories any more, and have not apologized like the family.
"why I said from the start that this story should never have been reported, certainly not with the little girl’s name."
Who is Amari Allen, the name that is a link\tag in your post?
I propose that all "responsible" news media adopt a 72-hour embargo on stories about "racist" actions and statements, to see if they turn out to be frauds.
Exceptions can be made for stories about Justin Trudeau and Ralph Notham.
Deplorables are so happy. They bathe in it as absolution from slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, red-lining, segregation and white privilege.
Blogger BADuBois said...
And the original posters and commentators delighted in pointing out the Pence connection to this alleged "hate crime."
Looking forward to seeing the apologies and walk-backs.
Can you say, “Cue the crickets”? I knew you could!
Before we give the media too much credit for this walk back, let's be media clear here. Althouse linked to the NYT for the orignal accusation, but it's the WaPo linked here for the "retraction." Has the NYT walked it back yet, or is this just a case of one paper "scooping" the other?
I'm curious, Professor: why hold back the girl's name if you think the story was fake? Certainly, victims of sexual assault routinely have their names held back from coverage, and it makes sense when they have legitimate stories, as every credible legal authority agrees. If a young black girl with a real racial grievance didn't want to become a political lightning rod, then I'd understand holding her name back as well. But if the media insist on reporting the hoax, why hold back her name? Is this a star chamber, where the accused is not allowed to know the name of their accuser- even when the accusations are obviously lies? Why are we not allowed to know the names of the people foisting this fraud on us, whereas our children can expect to be doxxed and stalked by the national media?
Either way, please have the courage to say that Sailer addressed it before you, and didn't have to add that the truth may be "somewhere in between." I notice you didn't say the story looked made up until the hoaxer confessed to her lies. You just threw it out there and declared your insight after it stopped making a difference. Steve Sailer isn't a trained lawyer, so how did he accurately juxtapose this story with Tawana Bradley before you did?
The wording of that headline is bothering me. Wouldn't it sound less awkward if it said "Virginia private school" instead of "private Virginia school?"
These stories are a win for the left no matter what. Their goal is to flood the zone with any garbage they can conjure up, so that normal people can't tell what's true or false anymore, so normal people give up and leave the public square, leaving the left to set up camp in any vacancy.
Unexpectedly!
Your concern for the child in this case is kind, Professor, and certainly that's should be the default position of nice centrist people (that we all ought to care most about the well-being of kids and not use them to our own ends since doing so may harm them).
But we're not living in that world no--if a kid can be a useful cudgel then the Media will never refrain from doing so.
It'd be more productive to talk about how we, as a society, might change that. I've been pushing for the destruction of capital-M Media types (who just happen to almost universally lean Left and push Leftist ideology), but I'm open to other ideas.
In a world where Greta, David Hogg, et al. are the loudest voices specifically because the Media uses them and people like them (like this poor race-crime hoaxer and many others like her) purposefully what actions should WE collectively take to end that tactic?
As I wrote then. This did not happen.
And the innocent liar also went on TV with her grandparents (er, where were/are the parents) to legitimize the hoax pain about the hoax racism.
We have such a great country full of nice people that we have to fabricate the hate crimes!
Michael K said...
When was the last time a "hate Crime" was not a hoax ?
9/30/19, 12:29 PM
The one the Democrats are still inflicting upon African-Americans...
When I read story I thought 85% chance Hoax. I'm glad it's a hoax and I'm glad most (OK a good number) of sensible people smelled hoax from the get go. I'd rather live in society where things like this are almost always hoaxes and rarely if ever actually happen. On different point - I'm following the Des Moines Register (DMR) mutually assured cancellation debacle, and one of the great comments (maybe here?) was to point out that while DMR would never have disclosed the fact that our do-gooder had assaulted someone or committed another beastly crime while a teen, they were happy to go back/find and publicize tweets that the guy made as a teen. Is that logically consistent?
But she is a whistle blower and as such has rights. The falseness of her accusations is irrelevant to her use of legal procedure to destroy her foes.
Claims of racist violence have value in the skewed social marketplace of modern life.
"He didn’t get that before me. I just declined to blog it on the first day, because I didn’t want to add to the damage."
Sorry but t hat's just a bit too much of "Stuck in my thumb and pulled out a plum and said what a good girl am I."
Amari Allen is now a blog tag. Color me confused.
Some news stories indicated the school was already considering what punishment the boys should receive before there was any certainty that an offense had actually been committed. Cue the Red Queen.
Crack MC blames white people for the hoax.
At least she didn't wait 30 years until some white male classmate of hers was being considered for a noteworthy position to spring her story. I give the little brat more credit than I give C.B. Ford, not much, but just a little.
"...the intensely racial words 'nappy' and 'dreadlocks.' ” How is 'dreadlocks' 'intensely racial'? It's descriptive. Mostly worn by African-Americans (and just plain Africans), but I've seen exceptions. Articles in 'Essence Magazine' and other AA outlets use the term 'dreds.'
(I wonder because I recently got called out for using the word 'shekels' in a script. That was deemed to be anti-semitic.)
Tawana Brawley call your office.
The disgusting democrat media could care less about anyone if it promotes their racism agenda. No child is too innocent.
To me, it was obviously fake when I started looking it up over the weekend and the only news outlets that were reporting on it were black. They were having this little girl on their shows and lauding her and petting and telling her how Brave she is. They've all gone radio silent now except for Essence which is reporting that it's fake. They're all fake. Not one has been real for years. It should be the default assumption now
The big question is where did this little girl learn to do these things? Who put the ideas into her head?
Meanwhile, I can easily envision the falsely accused boys and their families quickly forgiving her.
Personally, I can't recall a single one of these unwitnessed "hate crimes" in the last year or so that has held up when examined, although there must have been a few?
Minority fantasies regarding how White hatred would be manifested in actual acts of racism/homophobia/sexism are bizarre, which is what identifies them as hoaxes.
The girl that made up such shameful allegations should face consequences for her actions in order to deter others from doing the same. Maybe she will, we probably won't know, but she should. The NYT and other media outlets that reported this incident have not learned their lesson from the Covington kids story, nor will they ever. An alleged incident with white males, at a Christian school, where Karen Pence teaches, was too juicy for them to pass up. All the more reasons why I never believe anything reported by the MSM.
We're all wise to the fact that this story was too good to be true. But the media reported on it breathlessly anyway. Is the same thing happening with Ukrainegate? Just wondering. Our media has lost its mind. They're just a frenzy now.
They would have been happy ruining the lives of the boys and their families if it had been true. They deserve to have that happen to them.
Obama, YOU built that!!!
At what age should we hold people accountable for trying to destroy the livers of others? She falsely accused three others of crimes. For which they would have been expelled from their private school and likely spent time in juvenile lockup. Shouldn't the same penalties be applied to her?
There will be no accountability for her, no penalty. In fact, she'll likely be feted in some circles for drawing attention to the evils of racism, where as already noted, the demand for hate crimes exceeds the supply.
At least the names of the falsely accused weren't broadcast nationwide, unlike the names of the Duke lacrosse players, or the young man falsely accused by mattress girl, or..... any number of others.
But by now everyone in the school knows their names. And there are always people who believe there's always a grain of truth in an accusation. They won't be free from the shadows of the accusations until they leave the school and enter the world at large.
Sure, apology makes her "brave" - BULLSHIT. The school was considering the punishment for the three boys this morning. Does anyone doubt they denied it and nobody listened? Where's the punishment for the girl and her weeping grandmother? I may be old but I remember being 12 and easily knowing right from wrong. If you think those boys won't suffer for this for years to come, if you think this won't affect their view of justice for the rest of their lives, you are kidding yourself. Or you just don't give a damn now that the story isn't about racism remotely linked to Christians and Pence and then to Trump.
So some newspaper editors (who will face even fewer consequences than the editor of the Des Moines Register) have made sure that every potential future employer of Ms. Allen will be able to find this story.
OK, Now unverified accusations from a 12 year old girl are national news. Because the NYT's said so. And of course, all that was missing from the Story was a badly drawn noose, or KKK hood being sighted.
So, the real point is why? Why is the NYT's - or it the WaPo? - putting this crap in their newspaper where space is limited and they cover the ENTIRE WORLD? Why was this considered believable or an important news story to anyone except the local school?
I'm beginning think RH, is right. Maybe its because the entire News is pitched to Soap opera chicks so they can emote over nothing, as opposed to dull, serious topics like immigration law, economics, or foreign policy and defense. OR maybe its because the MSM wants to race bait, and keep racial tensions at a boil because it helps elect D's.
I wonder if this will cause non Black Christian parents to become more Pro Trump, as Kavanaugh did.
As people think the accused could have been my kid...
This kind of crap used to be rare, but now it's so common the first thing everyone thinks when they hear about racial attacks against POC is...hoax. Granted, Al Sharpton used this activity to gain cred on his CV so that the heads of NBC would later give him his own TV show.
But as a society we've now spent years teaching both kids and easily swayed adults (knowns to some as Democrats) that it's OK to do this thing if it brings down a white person/conservative/man/straight person/Republican. It's OK. The end justifies the means. And so it is for Jesse Smollett and all those who defend him. So it has been for many others on college campuses around the country. At some synagogues and mosques and churches. And around various cities. And so it was for this young girl.
Who's making this OK? How does this thinking even cross a line to be considered maybe OK? How does a Jesse Smollett get to this point and those on TV mooning over his 'situation' get to their thinking?
You might want to add a "False Flag" tag if this sort of thing continues.
Notice the people who declared this a hoax are not treating the news that they were right with the same relish those SJW-types who were quick to declare the six year-old white schoolboys guilty of all kinds of hate.
The kids on all sides of this story are the victims of the racial poison they traffic in, both in the cultivation of the social pressures which led to the false charge being made and the viral spread of the story.
I stand corrected. When I said, "As happens way too often, [he] was there first" I meant that he is a disreputable person who no one respectable is supposed to take seriously, but he is too often right. He gives me the feeling of a '60s debunker.
Big if true.
Jussy Smollet only had two guys in MAGA hats.
I agree this is a troubled child and the story was a rush to print. Sadly she is probably even more troubled than before.
Not that it's on me to accept this little girl's apology, but I certainly do, especially inasmuch as I have some recollection of days in sixth grade when either I or my close-friend classmates could conceivably have done something equivalent to this. I also remember enough of sixth grade to recollect that my concept of the outer world and politics was minimal. I knew it existed but how it worked was extremely hazy at best.
Apology accepted.
"[T]he girl’s needs are the overwhelming top priority . . ."
No, the needs of the boys are the overwhelming top priority, the needs of the girl take second place (at best). Victims before perpetrators.
along these lines,it will come to pass that we did not
steal Greta The Eco-Brat's dreams and childhood.
Everybody wants to be Juicy Smollet.
Now everybody wants to be Juicy Smollet.
We still don't know what happened with girl.
Just that girl took it back. WaPo even then reiterate what the accusation was. Did they bother to ask? To clarify? Establish facts!? No sir that is not journalism.
Closure - partial.
Don't go after the kid. Go after the newspaper who shows a purposeful intent to print certain stories that are inflammatory in causing racial divisiveness, but do not pass the smell test.
People want to call something a hate crime? Well here we are.
If the media were uniform in their incompetent running of stories it would be one thing.
But one doesn't see many stories sent in by old crazy bob about a hidden Chinese spy ring meeting at the old Johnson farmhouse out on Hwy 12, or how a gang of Jewish thieves stole his wife's diamonds when they stopped at an Omaha diner, etc.
Nope. What we have are media outlets intent on running only white on black stories that need to be retracted 3-5 days later because they aren't true.
If I was white, OR if I was black, I'd be upset with this selective story telling process. It makes me - be I white or black - look bad.
The pattern is the crime. Either be more incompetent in your articles, or less so.
About as real as those Indian call centers telling you your account has been compromised. Hope they enjoy their Go Fund Me Fraud.
Yet another reason this should not have published nationally. The child now has to deal with way more embarrassment than anyone her age deserves. Some adults might consider this a lesson.
Yeah, who am I kidding!?
Stop believing black people, women,gays, lesbians, trannies and Muslims when they claim racial or gender harassment. They are almost always lying in order to vilify straight white.
Never trust anyone who can’t blush.
As someone said not so long ago, the demand for hate crimes in the US exceeds the supply.
I believe something similar may be true with respect to Trump administration scandals.
I cut the girl a lot of slack because of her age. Here's what is most troubling: how did she know to turn this fake story into a racial incident? Why did she specifically and falsely identify WHITE boys? Even at her young age she has learned how to play the race card for her personal benefit. Deeply sad.
We see time and time again 'victims' of racist attacks faking the whole thing.
You want to hide the facts she lied and let her go.
I say no way!!! She needs to face the music like anyone else for she ... is... a... racist who tried to frame others for a hate crime that didn't happen.
Gee, that's never happened before.
Imagine that this happened within a family -- a sister falsely accused her brothers of something they did not do. The parents would investigate and pass sentence. The girl would know if she admitted her lie she would be forgiven by the family. She would feel bad; she would be the butt of teases by her brothers. Ultimately the brothers would forgive (in some pure sense); they would attend her college graduation and wedding and 30th birthday. If it were my family, we would (try to) hold this story very close-- grandparents, and other family members, and neighbors, etc., don't need to know, and we do not need their input to resolve the issue.
Because this is a Christian school, I think there is a higher probability that those involved directly will see themselves as part of a family, and there is a higher probability that it will be dealt with firmly but lovingly.
Wait a minute--did the Left promulgate a fake story?! Never in the history of the world has such a thing ever happened!
Congratulations to Althouse on making the right call. What a shame she's not the umpire. The Washington Post really blew this call. What are the chances they even realize the mistake they made? What are the chances they make another similar mistake?
Campaign Team Obama 2012 would blame Mitt Romney for the alleged hair cutting incident.
There's a lot of too good to be true stories floating out from the MSM and the left side of the blogosphere. After a while you just wait to let such stories sink freighted as they are with arrant nonsense. But like soap bubbles blowing from a bubble machine, another story will float out tomorrow.
The school’s principal, Stephen Danish: “While we are relieved to hear the truth and bring the events of the past few days to a close, we also feel tremendous pain for the victims and the hurt on both sides of this conflict. We recognize that we now enter what will be a long season of healing.”
Is there some kinda course in education colleges that teaches administrators to speak in such a vapid, bureaucratic manner?
the girl’s needs are the overwhelming top priority and every adult with anything to do with this should do all they can to help and protect her.
That's the grandparents' responsibility, which they failed utterly by going to the media. The school and cops must determine the truth and protect the innocent--in this case, the slandered students--not the liar. The press is just there to make money and stir up trouble, that's all we can expect from them now.
I hope she's been expelled for bearing false witness.
We still don't know what happened with girl.
Just that girl took it back. WaPo even then reiterate what the accusation was. Did they bother to ask? To clarify? Establish facts!? No sir that is not journalism.
Closure - partial.
bbb
What's the over/under on the number of people that read the accusation to those that saw the retraction?
I'd say 15.
NYTimes will never forgive those 3 white boys for not cutting that black girl's hair.
we also feel tremendous pain for the victims and the hurt on both sides of this conflict.
Unless I'm missing something, there was no conflict. And if the boys weren't identified there were no victims. There was no "both". This was a self inflicted tragedy.
The Washington Post really blew this call. What are the chances they even realize the mistake they made? What are the chances they make another similar mistake?
What are the chances that they'll suffer any ill effects from this "mistake"?
"Too good to be true"
Hey, that's Kirk's Second Law!
The Drill SGT said...It was irresistible to the MSM because Mrs Pence taught there and they could connect to Trump racism through the VP
Bingo. Dems are now onto fantasizing about a President Pelosi enabled by taking out both Trump and Pence. Truly sad. More than half of DC is in a frenzy. The swamp is churning with frenzied reptilian behavior.
Chuck and Inga have won. You can comment here, but discussion is out of the question.
At 12 she’s old enough to know not to lie. Or maybe knowing the veep’s wife teaches at the school is some kind of political motive. Or maybe it’s about a try for a cash settlement while the fire is still hot.
One additional problem with a casually moderated board is that once an incorrect fact has been placed in a comment there's no effective way of correcting it due to the time delay.
This thread is a good example.
doctrev said...
I'm curious, Professor: why hold back the girl's name if you think the story was fake?
Because she’s 12 and she’s not the one who made this a national news event. That would be the dirtbag reporters.
She should be punished.
Good morning!
As I have said ad nauseam, a propaganda system depends on volume and velocity, not the quality of what its throwing.
It is a weapon of war, not a delicate instrument.
Bingo. Dems are now onto fantasizing about a President Pelosi enabled by taking out both Trump and Pence. Truly sad.
The democrats are colluding with the deep state and the media to get the impeachment machine going.
Narayanan said...
We still don't know what happened with girl.
Just that girl took it back. WaPo even then reiterate what the accusation was. Did they bother to ask? To clarify? Establish facts!? No sir that is not journalism.
We can't even tell if the girl accused specific kids or not. The second the story didn't support the narrative the media dropped it.
Howard said...
Deplorables are so happy. They bathe in it as absolution from slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, red-lining, segregation and white privilege.
This is a revealing comment. Why would I need absolution for the actions of others? Is there something special about white skin that makes me guilty of what others did? I thought left wingers believed racism was bad but every time one comments they admit their racism.
“It's good to wait a day before adding to damage.”
Once it was in the NYT, there was nothing I could do to keep it quiet. I chose to condemn the NYT for printing the story. I don’t believe I added to the damage, but thanks for the sarcasm. That’s charming.
Michael quoted: "The school’s principal, Stephen Danish: “While we are relieved to hear the truth...." etc, etc, blah blah blah.
Course? There's five or six years of it involved if you want to climb the greasy pole of getting an administrator job, like my son in law is attempting. (Hint: As in the corporate world, it helps if you have claws made of silicon carbide.)
My question is, is he a cheese danish or cherry danish? I suspect the former, as it is an unnatural thing.
No criticism intended to you, Michael, you called it.
She got busted and had to 'fess up. It was an intentional racist malicious lie intended to do harm to three innocent schoolmates. If it remained a he said/she said, the boys and their families would have been attacked as was the poor kid with the MAGA hat in D.C.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/6th-Grade-Girl-Says-She-Lied-About-Boys-Cutting-Her-Dreadlocks-561784531.html
A 12-year-old girl who accused three sixth-grade boys of pinning her down and cutting her dreadlocks has admitted to school officials she was not attacked and cut her own hair,
During the investigation of the girl's accusations, security camera video showed where (the boys) were at the time of the alleged attack, the family's attorney said, and it became clear the girl's account could not be true
Howard said...
Deplorables are so happy. They bathe in it as absolution from slavery, Jim Crow, lynchings, red-lining, segregation and white privilege.
This is a revealing comment.
What it reveals is that Howard is just messin' wit ya.
He not a true believer like readering. Howars an old guy smiling when he gets a bite.
Sebastian writes: I appreciate the nice sentiment. But the world is not nice: progs will use any story that fuels their narrative.
I too appreciate the nice sentiment, but Sebastian has made a fundamental mistake. He unthinkingly uses the words of the enemy, and in doing so hands him a strategic victory at the cost of a minor tactical setback. To win we must never use such language, because it suggests that we are similarly, however naively, corrupt.
Narrative is word I find so galling. It is far too innocence. Narrative is the domain of fiction writers. In a culture war for the soul of civilization, the methods of fiction are ineffectual and absurd. The enemy believes that nothing is really true. If nothing is true, the natural corollary is nothing is false. In his world, there are no liars, just speakers of narratives — some more effective, others less so.
The little girl was the subject of a common fantasy. Most children are at one time or another. Just as children often have imaginary friends, they have imaginary foes. However, liars — this is the word we must use — practiced professional liars transformed the fantasy into LIE, a weapon against American civilization.
Here we go "The family was paid off to recant in order to protect Pence."
Dem
@Demetri66446068
Replying to
@RedState
the family was paid off... hush up butter biscuits
Facts do not matter to the left:
Dee Marketing MBA
👽
@Dee_Marketing
·
7h
Replying to
@RedState
No..Because everyone suspects that the family was paid off to recant the story to save the rep of Pence and the school
FUOH
@pone031
·
6h
Replying to
@RedState
Paid off. GEAD
RealKillmonger
@SammySwiggles
·
6h
Replying to
@RedState
How big was the check?
Sa Khepera
@sa_khepera
·
7h
Replying to
@RedState
It has not been proven false, genius. The statement is withdrawn....probably for a check! You know, the Harvey Weinstein way!
Sa Khepera
@sa_khepera
·
7h
Replying to
Thanks fullmoon.
My closure is good now.
This girl was mendacious. By age 7 I was expected by my church to know right from wrong. A 12 year old girl should know there is no excuse to making up lies, accusing innocent schoolmates by name, and blatantly making up all this supporting evidence.
I also don't think much of the school administrators, talking now about the "victims on both sides." What victims were there on the girl's side? Unless it is all the people who wanted the lie to be true because they had invested so much in it.
I made the mistake of watching the interview with the girl when she made the accusation for the cameras--yes, we have tape, not just a picture. Two observations:
1. She looks a lot older than 12--more like 15 or 16.
2. Since the truth is now out and it is clear that the attack never happened, the original tape shows her to be an extremely skilled and practiced liar (complete with a breakdown and tears at the high point of the story).
We are in some deep water here, Althouse. Maybe she wanted to be on television, just like Beyonce.
@Quaestor: "To win we must never use such language"
First time on this blog I have been accused of "unthinkingly" handing progs a victory and naively parroting the enemy's language. All those years of cultivating my anti-prog Savonarola persona: in vain!
Anyway, I like using prog language, in moderation of course, with just the right drips of disdain.
No shame:
"It all happened when the 37-year-old actor slid into the Instagram account for the Shade Room and commented on a post with a headline that read, “TSRUpdatez: Virginia Teen Who Claimed White Students Cut Her Dreadlocks Reportedly Admits To Fabricating Story,” per Complex.com in a piece published Monday.
A person following the site then wrote, “Jussie [Smollett] reallly is a trend setter.”
And that’s when the former “Empire” star defended himself and stated that he hasn’t “lied about a thing.”
“With all due respect brother, y’all can clown me all you want but my story has actually never changed and I haven’t lied about a thing,” Smollett responded to the post. “Y’all can continue to be misinformed, internalized sheep, who believe what actual proven liars feed you or you can read the actual docs.”
“Either way, I’mma be alright,” he added. “I know me and what happened. You don’t. So carry on. All love.”
https://dailycaller.com/2019/09/30/jussie-smollett-insists-hasnt-lied-alleged-hate-crime/
Ahhh...now that she has confessed to lying, they have taken her accusatory tape down. Into the Memory Hole!
I suppose journalism mantra for this century is believe anything a grandmother tells you.
Yoo hit it on the nose, Althouse. Nice going.
"Nappy" is not something I have ever heard white folks say. Outside of references in news articles and movies about black culture, it seems to be almost exclusively a term used within the black community by black folks talking to other black folks.
in 4 short years
She will be fit to lecture everyone to change all of society for her purpose
*to improve the weather*
Wait the story no longer proves
"Who we are"?
The number of well-known fake hate crimes is on the rise. A sympathetic and sycophantic MSM is making it harder to believe when the real ones occur.
12 year olds in 2019 don't use the the word "nappy."
That's why I knew the story was false (the white boy hair-cutters were alleged to have called her hair "nappy.") The story probably came from adults in the girls life, who wanted money from the school. But harder to pull of hoaxes these days, with security cameras all over the place.
"If a 12-year-old girl wears dreadlocks to any school, she is going to get at least a lot of disdain and mockery. That's what happens in any sixth-grade class"
I have no idea why this particular girl has dreadlocks, but for some hair textures, it's the only way to achieve longer hair (otherwise it breaks off short even with diligent care).
If you are a little girl with type [4-something?] hair, and your choices are locs or Lupita Nyong'o, which one are you going to pick?
"What victims were there on the girl's side?"
Her grandparents---but I doubt that the school thinks of it that way.
This much madness is too much sorrow. Can't wait for Barr and Co investigations. Can't believe Hillary is back in the dugout warmin up.
Bumble Bee (my second favorite Bee)-
One does not warm up in the dugout. One warms up in the bullpen.
But no matter, your point is correct- nothing, NOTHING, will keep her from Her Turn.
She should be 59 points ahead by now.
BB-
Also. nice David Crosby reference. He almost cut his hair also.
So just one more fake hoax with blacks blaming WHITE MEN, and the media jumping to attention, because we FINALLY GOT THEM!!!! I don't believe ANYTHING the lying MSM comes out with ever. I wait until the other shoe drops...and it always does.
Althouse, I see you have chosen not to post my comment about "DON'T believe all women, gays, etc".
Why?
Brian writes: But harder to pull off hoaxes these days, with security cameras all over the place.
Another word from the enemy camp: hoax. A hoax can be a harmless deception, like the various forms of collegiate high jinx that seemed to overwhelm my studies from time to time. What has been done here is a malicious lie — bearing false witness, one of the ten most grievous sins according to Mosaic tradition.
To win we must remove the blinders.
Once in a while, usually around noon, I'll feel a little nappy.
from - https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sixth-grader-admits-to-falsely-accusing-three-boys-of-cutting-her-hair
_________
Her mother Cynthia, 53, said that her daughter was "in real pain but she wants justice." It was said that it had taken the girl two days to report the incident and had initially told her mother that the missing parts of her hair were the result of playing “beauty salon” with another friend.
“We continued to press her on it because it just didn’t sound like something she would do,” Cynthia Allen said. “Then she started breaking down crying, trembling, and shaking before telling us what happened.”
__________
the adults did not believe the truth she told - so she made up story that they would believe!
chile needs to be housed elsewhere
The grandparents proudly went to the media the way, say, Jewish grandparents would want the press to know their grandson won a big chess tournament. In group-identity victim culture, this is winning. The press naturally used her name the way they would name a junior chess or tennis champion.
Wasn't this more of a blood libel? Trying to paint all whites and hostile to black people?
Shave the grandmother's and reporter's heads and let it be over.
The only surprising thing about this story is that the boys weren't reported as wearing red MAGA hats.
In their rage and impotence, liberals can't even be creative in their lies anymore.
टिप्पणी पोस्ट करा