February 25, 2021

"A student said she was racially profiled while eating in a college dorm. An investigation found no evidence of bias. But the incident will not fade away."

"The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN picked up the story of a young female student harassed by white workers. The American Civil Liberties Union, which took the student’s case, said she was profiled for 'eating while Black.' Less attention was paid three months later when a law firm hired by Smith College to investigate the episode found no persuasive evidence of bias. [Oumou] Kanoute was determined to have eaten in a deserted dorm that had been closed for the summer; the janitor had been encouraged to notify security if he saw unauthorized people there. The officer, like all campus police, was unarmed. Smith College officials emphasized 'reconciliation and healing' after the incident. In the months to come they announced a raft of anti-bias training for all staff, a revamped and more sensitive campus police force and the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color. But they did not offer any public apology or amends to the workers whose lives were gravely disrupted by the student’s accusation... 'It was appropriate to apologize,” [Smith president Kathleen] McCartney said. 'She is living in a context of ‘living while Black’ incidents.'...  Ms. McCartney offered no public apology to the employees after the report was released...  Anti-bias training began in earnest in the fall.... [C]afeteria and grounds workers found themselves being asked by consultants hired by Smith about their childhood and family assumptions about race, which many viewed as psychologically intrusive.” 

From "Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and Power at Smith College" by Michael Powell (NYT).

The article quotes Mark Patenaude, whom Kanoute accused of racism. He was a janitor at Smith, but not on the job at the time of the incident. He now says: "We used to joke, don’t let a rich student report you, because if you do, you’re gone.... I was accused of being the racist... To be honest, that just knocked me out. I’m a 58-year-old male, we’re supposed to be tough. But I suffered anxiety because of things in my past and this brought it to a whole ’nother level." As for all the training sessions in race and intersectionality, he said: "I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."

230 comments:

1 – 200 of 230   Newer›   Newest»
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

let me get this straight.

She was eating in an area that was off limits to everyone, she asked to leave - and this is a racial discrimination crime?

MadisonMan said...

I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege
Money Privilege uses the white privilege fiction as a cudgel.

wendybar said...

Black Privilege. They have no fear of getting called out anymore, because they just throw the RACIST flag out there, and they are protected, whilst they ruin somebody elses life in the process. Thanks Great Divider Obama!!! You did a great job dividing us by Race, gender, religion and class. Well Done. Enjoy the downfall that won't affect YOU.

rhhardin said...

Stay away from blacks and don't hire blacks, seems to be the lesson. Nothing but trouble.

chickelit said...

Any contrition from Ms. Kanoute for the damage she caused? I didn't think so.

PM said...

Only color that matters is green.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...

She was eating in an area that was off limits to everyone, she asked to leave - and this is a racial discrimination crime?

Yes, because in her mind she was being singled out because she was Black. And because the Smith College admin has no guts so they take the easy route of capitulating to her, thereby treating her like an infant.

I remember a time in the past when such behavior was called being 'patronizing' and was considered horribly offensive by Black people.

Big Mike said...

After reading the details of what Ms. Kanoute did to have a janitor and (unarmed) campus policeman confront her, I have never seen a more obvious case of black privilege in my life. She was eating in a closed dorm that students were not allowed to be in. She got her meal from a cafeteria reserved for a high school program that college students were not allowed into without having first gone through a background check. I don’t see why the President of Smith College sets up rules if it’s okay to violate those rules as long as they have an approved skin color. Perhaps. McCartney should be explicit in promulgating college regulations that none of them apply to black students.

bleh said...

Reading about this yesterday gave me a bad case of agita. The ACLU is now an unrecognizable organization. It has chosen "wokeism" over liberalism.

It just underscores how the modern Left has become increasingly ideological, outwardly racist and, yes, totalitarian. In many respects the Trumpist Right has also gone off the rails, of course, but it seems obvious that the best and most vocal defenders of genuine liberal principles are almost exclusively on the Right.

I'm fine with their being progressives and conservatives, and I don't expect their respective ideologies to be in agreement on much. I don't even want that. What I do want, though, is widespread agreement that liberal principles are worth defending. What isn't liberal is reducing everything to racial group-based grievances and outrages, treating minorities and whites differently, and so on.

Wasn't there another incident like this involving Smith College? I think it was a librarian who resigned in protest of the increase in CRT trainings. Maybe it was a different women's college.

James Graham said...

She won't be a student forever.

I hope every prospective employer remembers her name and her behavior.

Ann Althouse said...

What the student did was terrible, but worse than that is what the administrators did, what the ACLU did, and what the NYT, The Washington Post, and CNN. I can understand the low-level dishonesty of going on the offensive when you're caught doing something wrong. It's very childish and shameful. But for powerful, prestigious institutions to back up these false charges and to go on the offensive against cafeteria workers and janitors is high-level evil. And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

tim maguire said...

chickelit said...Any contrition from Ms. Kanoute for the damage she caused?

No worries. He was just a janitor.

Lucien said...

Are we just going to ignore the creation of racially segregated dormitories? Separate but equal?

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

bleh,

Wasn't there another incident like this involving Smith College? I think it was a librarian who resigned in protest of the increase in CRT trainings. Maybe it was a different women's college.

Sure, Jodi Shaw. Who among other things was going to perform a library orientation as a rap, but was then told she couldn't do that b/c "culturally appropriative."

Breezy said...

White people have to suffer the consequences of these arrogant black perpetrators. They should sue the college, and possibly CNN, since that was done successfully recently. People with authority need to be held to account.

I honestly wonder if Jodi Shaw can be the spearhead of a class action against Smith as well. These CRT trainings are ipso facto racist, and are not Constitutional. I hope her case is solid enough to do so. Needs to go to SCOTUS if necessary.

rhhardin said...

Ohio (and other states) passed a law authorizing a judge to impose implicit bias training for anyone convicted of making an unjustified 911 call based on race.

So you can't take odds into account in calling for help.

I don't know if the implicit bias training covers Bayesian statistics or not.

Rory said...

"I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."

Bingo. A school has a problem if the janitor knows better than the president.

Again, though, it's not just white privilege. Male privilege, and all the other little privileges are just ways to deflect scrutiny from "money privilege."

DavidUW said...

What's the tuition at Smith?
$56,110.


You can spend $224k+ on a useless degree from a glorified high school.
Median salary 3years post "graduation": $47,000.

The upper middle class/lower upper class parents pissing away money on this could also buy a small business for $224k and put child in charge.

Median owner cash flow: $70,000.

Why the fuck would you buy a shit degree that pays you less than owning a gas station or laundromat.
Oh that's right, so Buffy can say she has a college degree.

What a joke.

RMc said...

But for powerful, prestigious institutions to back up these false charges and to go on the offensive against cafeteria workers and janitors is high-level evil.

Powerful, prestigious institutions are run by human beings. Human beings respond to incentives.

AZ Bob said...

White privilege, money privilege and woke privilege? Which one rules?

Joe Smith said...

"In the months to come they announced a raft of anti-bias training for all staff, a revamped and more sensitive campus police force and the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color."

Yes...let's re-segregate everything! It's the old Democrat party playbook.

If there were signs that read 'Dorm closed' or other such notices, then it was plain old trespassing.

Here's a fun one I saw today: Google has a full-page ad in the 'Wall Street Journal' extolling their new search feature. You can now search for 'Black-Owned' as a parameter. As in Black-owned businesses.

Doesn't that make you proud to be an American?

When do the lawsuits start?

Restraint of trade, blah blah blah...

I'm not a lawyer and Google isn't the government (although it's getting harder and harder to tell these days), but this is blatant discrimination.

How fast would DuckDuckGo get sued if they had a search function for 'White-Owned'?

Our country is fucked.

Earnest Prole said...

The focus on race and intersectionality represents a civil war between the socialist and capitalist wings of the Democratic party. Janitors and police are occasional collateral damage.

Wince said...

Althouse said...
What the student did was terrible, but worse than that is what the administrators did, what the ACLU did, and what the NYT, The Washington Post, and CNN.

Will the courts recognize these patterns of institutional conduct on the part of employers as creating a racially hostile work environment? And, consequently, will the plaintiff's bar see dollars or opprobrium for bringing any such hostile work environment claims?

Unlike the typical Title VII-type claim, this is not about holding an institution responsible for the aberrant acts of one or more of its employees against other employees.

It's about the institution itself engaging practices that create a hostile environment on the basis of the employee's race and, when encoded in training and procedure, are the very definition of "pervasive".

Title VII does not protect employees from all teasing or offensive conduct, but it does protect them from conduct that is so severe or pervasive that it causes a hostile, abusive, or intimidating work environment. Harassment is also prohibited when the worker’s continued employment is dependent upon the worker enduring the unwelcome conduct.

The employee’s supervisor, another supervisor, co-workers, or even non-employees may engage in conduct that leads to a hostile work environment. Such conduct may become pervasive enough to create a hostile work environment because multiple people are involved in the behavior. A hostile work environment may arise, for example, when an employer accommodates a customer’s request not to be served by members of a particular race.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

rhhardin,

I presume the OH law you mention stems from the NYC birdwatcher case. (Where I still maintain that the woman had reason to call 911 -- the man said "You're not gonna like what I do," or something of that sort, and then enticed her dog to him with the dog treats he just happened to have in his pocket. How was she to know that he wouldn't harm the dog?)

This case, though . . . did it never occur to any of the people initially booming this story to ask what Ms. Kanoute was doing eating her meal all by herself in a building with no other people in it? Or to ask her where she got the food? The university policy here was entirely reasonable and sensible.

Fernandinande said...

"I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."

Smith College could probably benefit by replacing their current president with that janitor, since he's obviously a lot smarter.

Joe Smith said...

"Stay away from blacks and don't hire blacks, seems to be the lesson. Nothing but trouble."

Many years ago, when the 'Racist!' crowd wasn't nearly as bad, I was having a conversation with my brother-in-law.

I don't know how, but the subject moved to employment and hiring/firing of workers.

He said, 'If I owned a business I would try not to hire black people.'

I was taken aback as he is the least racist person I know.

So I asked...um...why is that?

He said, 'Because you could never fire them without a huge lawsuit.'

Now it all makes sense...

Ken B said...

The staff were guilty of working while lower class.

D.D. Driver said...

It's very childish and shameful. But for powerful, prestigious institutions to back up these false charges and to go on the offensive against cafeteria workers and janitors is high-level evil. And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

Young girls telling terrible lies that lead to the inquisition and punishment of innocent people by institutions that should know better.

I've seen this pattern before....

Mike Sylwester said...

Back in the good old days, a college had a "Dean of Students" who would deal with misbehaving students.

In a case like this, the Dean of Students would summon the student Oumou Kanoute into his office and counsel her to stop making obnoxious accusations against the college's workers. The Dean would warn Kanoute that she would be expelled if she did it again.

In contrast, all colleges now have "diversity" administrators who systematically coddle and encourage misbehaving students who make such obnoxious accusations.

Joe Smith said...

"And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism."

There are very, very, very few cases of legitimate racism in the U.S. today.

Witness all of the false noose hoaxes, etc. Jussie is the poster boy (sorry, 'man').

I have travelled a good many places in my life, and I can confidently say that this is not a racist country by any means compared to most places on earth.

If it were so terrible, why are so many POC clamoring to live here?

CJinPA said...

And....? How many times will we see this, shake our heads, and move on, waiting for the next time?

For this to end, the cost of false accusations (reduced social standing, discipline) must be greater than the benefit (increased social standing, damage awards).

Increase the cost by accusing those involved of racism:
"False claims of racism are racism. You are racist."
"The school's response was racist. Stop being racist."

That's it. That's how you stop this. Everything else is a waste of time.

Mike Sylwester said...

Fortunately, society now has computer-search capabilities to defend itself against obnoxious accusers.

In this particular case, fortunately, Oumou Kanoute will have persistent difficulties getting hired for the rest of her life, because potential employers will find out about this mess that she caused.

Fernandinande said...

Don't forget: Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College

Heartless Aztec said...

Stupidity displayed in spades by all concerned except the janitor which gives credence to Bill Buckley's famous quote of rather being governed by the first 200 names in a telephone book than any intellectuals.

Aside - are telephone books still a thing?

Amadeus 48 said...

I think we are way beyond the point where people became skeptical of charges of racism.

Too many false accusations. Too many irrational rejections of context. Too many mostly peaceful protests that lead to fiery destruction and senseless death. Too many phony “Hands up don’t shoot” pictures from newsreaders. Too many “elite” leaders, who should know better, jumping on the bandwagon of anti-racism through racism. Too many careers destroyed simply because people wanted to have an honest discussion about policy implications.

Here’s a pro tip: if you don’t believe in racial segregation, don’t establish affinity dormitories based on race. If you do believe in racial segregation, go right ahead.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Joe Smith, re: not hiring Blacks b/c then you can't fire them, even for good cause, w/o being sued, I think this has been a concern of many employers for a long time now. It used to be a problem for women as well, but you simply can't afford nowadays, in most businesses anyway, to write off half the workers available to you.

The thing is, though, with "disparate impact," there is no way to be objective in hiring criteria; anything that attempts to select for traits you want for a position, even no-brainer things like punctuality, appropriate dress, ability to write and speak accurate English, &c. are likely to cause trouble if they don't automatically mirror the characteristics of the whole pool of potential applicants. The result, inevitably, is that such characteristics cease to be valued by anyone. Which is sad.

bleh said...

"Here's a fun one I saw today: Google has a full-page ad in the 'Wall Street Journal' extolling their new search feature. You can now search for 'Black-Owned' as a parameter. As in Black-owned businesses.

Doesn't that make you proud to be an American?"

There's a Nerdwallet commercial where people are talking about the financial advice they want, and one guy says he want to know about investing in black-owned businesses. I am gobsmacked by the overt racist appeal of it every time I see the commercial. You see the same shit with "women-owned" branding on certain products. Why do I care if this ice cream is produced by a company that is owned at least in part by a person with a vagina? Actually, I should not speak so soon. It's entirely possible the "woman" owner has a penis.

I never particularly liked the "Made in the USA" labeling, either, but at least that's a race-neutral, gender-neutral, pro-America theme. The idea is you buy American to support American businesses and American workers and keep money on our shores. It's an imperfect message that can easily be manipulated by labor unions but at least it's a unifying message. It encourages consumers to think of themselves as Americans.

Black-owned and woman-owned encourages us to further Balkanize our society.

Ironclad said...

How was the girl leveling the charges not expelled from the college for slander and lying - the University has video evidence of the “confrontation” that she took herself? Restitution for the employees? They were white, no foul.

The statement that these incidents “ harm anti-racism because they cause skepticism” is a real hoot, considering virtually ALL of the incidents lately have been hoaxes to do nothing more than suck up cash from “gullible guilties”

Black Lives Matter ( only if you can monetize them) No truer words have been spoken.

Amadeus 48 said...

Mike Sylwester—
The young lady will have no trouble finding a job in the grievance industry. There are foundations and publications eager to enlist her skills.

Narr said...

Our campuses crawl with entitled racist provocateurs like this one, and there are no words to describe the readiness of administrators to abase themselves on behalf of whiners like her.

Narr
Yes, the pattern is familiar, and it will only get worse

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Fernandinande,

Don't forget: Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College

Oh, we haven't. Don't even try to stop shoplifters if they're not white.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color"

Segregation now, segregation always!

"Separate but equal!"

The Left just can't stop being racist scum, no matter how much better the rest of us get

Joe Smith said...

"It used to be a problem for women as well, but you simply can't afford nowadays, in most businesses anyway, to write off half the workers available to you."

Hiring women is sound business sense as you only have to pay them 70 cents on the dollar : )

Bob Boyd said...

I hate to eat and run, but I have to go file a complaint.

bleh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
henge2243 said...

I hope that she enjoys working in academia, no private company would ever hire her.

mandrewa said...

bleh said, "Wasn't there another incident like this involving Smith College? I think it was a librarian who resigned in protest of the increase in CRT trainings. Maybe it was a different women's college."

It was the same college, and I will bet, now that I think about it, that these two events are connected.

Jodi Shaw did not resign because of an increase in Critical Race Theory trainings. On the contrary Shaw took a stand against that ideology and posted some YouTube videos of her views on the subject. I think she fought back with the belief that she would be able to win some rights or respect for the law like the 14th amendment against racial discrimination at Smith College for their staff.

She resigned after harassment from Smith College and from some of her own colleagues and also the media like The New York Times and the Washington Post and other like organizations, like a GoFundMe effort she started to allow people to support her, which GoFundMe terminated.

Here's what first triggered the left against her, this is the essence of what Jodi Shaw said in the first video she posted:

Stop reducing my personhood to a racial category.

Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself.

Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is based upon my skin color.

Stop asking me to project stereotypes and assumptions onto others based upon their skin color.

Stop saying that young women of color have no power or agency in this world and that young white women have power and privilege over everyone else -- neither are true.

Stop demanding that I acknowledge my white privilege and implicit bias as a condition of my continued employment.

Stop telling me that as a white person I am especially responsible for dismantling racism.

Stop emboldening students to act abusive towards staff by refusing to hold them accountable for their own egregious behavior.

We have a right to work in an environment free from the ever-present terror that any unverified student allegation of racism or any other -ism has the power to crush our reputations, ruin our livelihood and even endanger the physical safety of ourselves or family members.


From Jodi Shaw: Dear Smith College: I Have a Few Requests

CJinPA said...

Oumou Kanoute will have persistent difficulties getting hired for the rest of her life, because potential employers will find out about this mess that she caused.

Or will they be more likely to hire her out of fear of being accused of racist hiring practices? Remember, she was never disciplined and her demands were met by the school when she brought in the lawyers.

Mike Sylwester said...

Fortunately, the name Oumou Kanoute is unique. Potential employers will know it must be her, and so will be able to throw her job application immediately into the trash can.

Amadeus 48 said...

After a three day hold on funds, Jodi Shaw’s GoFundMe has continued and GoFundMe has released all funds to her. She was seeking $150,000 to fund her lawsuit against Smith and has pledged that any funds over will go to others who are contemplating similar litigation. So far she has raised about $250,000 in total.

Michael K said...

He said, 'Because you could never fire them without a huge lawsuit.'

About 30 years ago, a friend who was chair of the surgery department at a UC medical school fired a black resident in his program. To make it worse, she was a woman, fired for incompetence. He told me every other surgery chair in the UC system said he could never win that case if she sued. She did and he won. That would not happen now.

Now, the AAMC, the accrediting agency for medical schools, telling medical schools they must hire by percentages, not MCAT scores. They should also graduate the POC students they accept or face lawsuits for discrimination.

I was telling my grandkids last weekend that, in the future, only use Asian doctors.

Jeff Vader said...

No offense professor but your profession is the reason we are here. Those who were tasked with teaching and molding the next generation have instead created legions of sniveling, self-important little shits who are convinced their shit don’t stink and anyone who doesn’t agree with this assessment is a white supremacist. We r fucked

Fernandinande said...

Oumou Kanoute will have persistent difficulties getting hired for the rest of her life,

I don't think she'll have any problems.

BLM makes the same sort of dishonest, outlandish and unfounded claims that Kanoute made, and they got $80 million worth of donations in 2020.

There are very, very, very few cases of legitimate racism in the U.S. today.

That is quite true, excluding anti-white racism (of which the incident under discussion is a minor example), but many people believe the BLM and their allies, the MSM, e.g.

"A recent nationally representative survey commissioned by Skeptic Mag asked respondents to estimate the number of unarmed blacks killed by police in 2019. Overall, 44% of liberals guessed 1,000 or more as compared to 20% of conservatives...."

The correct number is: 16.

Rabel said...

"I hope that she enjoys working in academia, no private company would ever hire her."

Some of you folks don't seem to be paying attention.

She'll be well rewarded.

Mike Sylwester said...

If a Dean of Students had summoned Oumou Kanoute into his office and told her to stop making obnoxious accusations, then she would have learned a lesson and gone on with her life.

By allowing Oumou Kanoute to make a big deal about her nonsense, the college administration has allowed her to ruin her own entire life.

Kai Akker said...

---it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism. [AA]

No, it makes me more certain that Smith is a racist environment, just as Jody Shaw charged.

Note how this one is flowing out of that one. These are such one-sided cases, and even though the glory days of Smith are long gone, there must still be some alumnae who can change the giving picture. They used to be quite decisive in that way. But that's when women were women.

Fernandinande said...

The correct number is: 16. Two other answers were: 13 and 27.

James K said...

At my daughter's university, someone just announced a "BIPOC-only wellness workshop." For the uninitiated, BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Seems like the non-BIPOCs need a workshop to figure out how to deal with all the racial BS being thrown at them.

LilyBart said...


I read about this case, and the reason the staff in that dorm had been asked to be vigilant was that it was being used for children that summer, and they only wanted authorized, screened people there to protect the kids. But this girl, not knowing this, wandered in to relax. It wasn't about race, but I'm sure the real problem was lack of info (unless the 'accused' girl knew this and rejected the idea of following the rules)

Owen said...

AA @ 11:12: "...And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism."

No, it sure doesn't help.

I guess this vicious self-absorbed child who played the racism card never heard of Aesop's Fables and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Well, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because this kind of move shifts all the benefits to the complaining party and all the externalities to society as a whole and to future complainers in particular. And IMHO, the day when we stop listening to creatures like Jussie Smollett and Oumou Kanoute cannot come soon enough.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Ann Althouse said...

I can understand the low-level dishonesty of going on the offensive when you're caught doing something wrong.

But really, what would have the possible consequences have been? Shown out of the building and told not to go in there again? A missed lunch?

Anonymous said...

I don't think she'll have any problems.

Why would you hire somebody who's going to cause HR problems? You can literally hire anybody else with black skin and avoid the racist allegation.

Gahrie said...

But for powerful, prestigious institutions to back up these false charges and to go on the offensive against cafeteria workers and janitors is high-level evil.

Almost as evil as going after a high school kid on a field trip.

Balfegor said...

Colleges systematically err on the side of overreacting to alleged bias incidents, sometimes failing to exhibit basic skepticism, and sometimes continuing to whip up hysteria and fear even when people in administration actually know the alleged bias incident is fake. In this case, it seems like the student was actually questioned by security, even if it had nothing to do with her race.

The incident that always sticks in my mind is this one. A professor at a school next door to my alma mater claimed she found anti-Semitic slogans on her car and kicked up a huge fuss, prompting a massive rally about supposed racism in the community with all the usual spectacle of breast-beating and self-flagellation. A couple eyewitnesses caught her applying the graffiti herself. She slandered an entire community, and the administrators of the colleges amplified her slander without a shred of skepticism. It was contemptible.

Real American said...

This is another situation demonstrating that the demand for racism outstrips the supply.

Iman said...

Given the impact of these allegations/accusations on those so accused, I would think it important that those not verified as true should, in turn, be cause for a negative impact on the liars who’ve originated them.

No slaps on hands, make it as painful and disruptive for those callous, malevolent individuals.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"Don't forget: Gibson's Bakery v. Oberlin College

Oh, we haven't. Don't even try to stop shoplifters if they're not white."

Gibson's Bakery's making millions off of that. So your lesson doesn't seem to apply

Dr Weevil said...

Mike Sylvester (11:53am):
"Fortunately, the name Oumou Kanoute is unique." Have you checked? Names that sound exotic and unique to generic American ears may be quite common in their home countries. I don't often feel a need to listen to African music, but I did buy one album at a thrift shop for those occasions. It's by a Malian named Mamadou Diabaté. When I looked him up on Wikipedia I found there's another musician named Mamadou Diabaté, from Burkina Faso, plus another Malian musician (cousin of the first) named Mamadou Sidiki Diabaté. Apparently it's the John Smith of west African names.

Before I read your comment, I was already planning to comment myself that another victim of Oumou Kanoute's racism would be any decent non-racist immigrant woman who shared her name. I still recall reading (almost 53 years ago!) about a decent upstanding Palestinian-American businessman in Southern California named Sirhan M. Sirhan (I may have the middle initial wrong) who had a very unpleasant week after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan B. Sirhan, no relation. All his friends and acquaintances assumed that such a strikingly exotic name must be unique. (Presumably his relatives at least knew that Sirhan is a common enough Palestinian first or last name and that Palestinians don't mind giving their children two of the same name.)

wendybar said...

"Ben Shapiro
@benshapiro
This is an astonishing sentence from the NYT, in a piece about how Smith College, the NYT, CNN, and virtually the entire establishment media gullibly reported a false story"


What else is new???

wendybar said...


"Ben Shapiro
@benshapiro
Replying to @benshapiro
The narrative is important, say the media. Thus, we must characterize overt lies that ruin lives as a "sense of personal truth." But in reality, there is no "personal truth." There is only the truth, and your opinion -- or in this case, your overt lies."


And this is how they divide.

Kai Akker said...

---Oh, we haven't. Don't even try to stop shoplifters if they're not white.

That wasn't the lesson of Gibson's Bakery v Oberlin College, fortunately! Though the case is dragging on, that $30-million-plus finding against Oberlin is very much alive. And the shoplifter and punching pals did plead guilty.

Roughcoat said...

In a comment thread yesterday I related an ethnic joke told by a Cuban about Mexicans, as a way of illustrating a tendency among Cubans to think themselves the betters of other South American Hispanics. The commenter who calls herself "Imam" responded by saying that "bigotry and hatred are never funny." Then, in a follow-up post, she called me, in Spanish, a "fucking white-boy."

Talk about your racial profiling.

Jim Gust said...

I am shocked by this story.

Not shocked that it happened at Smith. No, I am surprised that the NYTimes reported on it fully and honestly, instead of spiking it.

Won't there be a rebellion now in the newsroom? Or have we reached some sort of turning point?

wendybar said...

Ann Althouse said...
What the student did was terrible, but worse than that is what the administrators did, what the ACLU did, and what the NYT, The Washington Post, and CNN. I can understand the low-level dishonesty of going on the offensive when you're caught doing something wrong. It's very childish and shameful. But for powerful, prestigious institutions to back up these false charges and to go on the offensive against cafeteria workers and janitors is high-level evil. And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

2/25/21, 11:12 AM

That's the Progressive agenda, and this has been going on for a LONG time now.

Gusty Winds said...

What was she having for lunch?

gahrie said...

---Oh, we haven't. Don't even try to stop shoplifters if they're not white.

In California today, the police will not arrest anyone for theft less than $950. So gangs of shoplifters go into stores with garbage bags and literally start sweeping things off the shelves, and then all walk out together.

Balfegor said...

Re: Joe Smith:

He said, 'If I owned a business I would try not to hire black people.'

I was taken aback as he is the least racist person I know.

So I asked...um...why is that?

He said, 'Because you could never fire them without a huge lawsuit.'


I think that overestimates how litigious Blacks are when they are fired. Sure, if they want to fight it out, they'll have a better shot at cobbling together a discrimination claim (as opposed to claiming their termination was whistleblower retaliation or some other kind of discrimination orwhatever).
But I think the overwhelming majority of Black employees who are terminated are upset for a bit, then just go and look for another job, like anyone else. Otherwise the courts would be overwhelmed with nothing but wrongful termination suits.

wendybar said...

And, maybe the administration is afraid to be called RACIST too, and scared they will lose their job. It is happening EVERYWHERE if you haven't noticed. The Propagandists in the news just do this to divide because it is part of their agenda.

Owen said...

Gahrie @ 12:22: "...gangs of shoplifters..." Maybe this will spur development of new anti-theft tags for the merchandise. That don't set off the beep-beep alarm, but instead blow the hands off the thief.

Anonymous said...

I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege

That is a smart janitor.

Gusty Winds said...

Althouse said...What the student did was terrible, but worse than that is what the administrators did, what the ACLU did, and what the NYT, The Washington Post, and CNN. I can understand the low-level dishonesty of going on the offensive when you're caught doing something wrong.

But Ann, this shit was going on while you were still teaching. Universities and everyone associated with their sick culture encouraged claims of victimization.

Then ya'll moved on to "intersectionality" to bring together the different victim classes as a full blow cartel. You didn't see this coming over decades at UW?

How many kids were dragged in front of university tribunals for walk of shame one-night stands?? Did the feminists pitch a due process bitch? Nope. Now it's just the janitors.

This type of shit is of no surprise to everyone who could see it coming. It's here today until the system implodes. It needs to be bankrupted.

Gusty Winds said...

wendybar said...That's the Progressive agenda, and this has been going on for a LONG time now.

Yes. And the new feigned astonishment is rich. And the Administrative and Tenured Professors will keep their mouths shut.

There are pensions to protect.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Greg The Class Traitor,

Yes, Gibson's is now "making millions" off that incident. But the point is, there is no reason for it to have happened at all. Kid sticks a couple of bottles of wine under his coat, employee runs out the door and tackles him, university takes the kid's side and severs decades-old contract with the bakery. No one even pretended that he was innocent; indeed, the cry was, "Well, but everyone steals stuff from Gibson's." So, what, they're just supposed to sit there smiling while the hyper-privileged Oberlin students come in and walk off with their stuff? What part of that is even faintly defensible?

Unknown said...

"I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."

According to a LinkedIn for an Oumou Kanoute that lists herself as an alumna of Smith College (class of 2021), she attended the Westminster School, a private boarding school in Simbury, Ct. that with tuition listed at $62K (per wikipedia, so make of that what you will).

I dunno, maybe she got a scholarship. But Mr. Patenaude may be on to something.

Gusty Winds said...

Roughcoat said...Then, in a follow-up post, she called me, in Spanish, a "fucking white-boy."

But...I am a fucking white boy. That's not THAT offensive. Wonder why she didn't find bendejo appropriate???

Quaestor said...

As for all the training sessions in race and intersectionality, he said: "I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."

There is nothing more profound than the obvious.

wild chicken said...

So 70 years ago Smith was teaching young women to know and accept their place as wives and mothers of Important Men per the latest science on female psychology or risk neurosis from being maladjusted.

And the students went psycho trying to nail down that good marriage before graduating into the void. According to Betty Friedan, alumna.

Sometime between then and now there had to be a golden age for Smith, yes? Where they get it right?

Mike Sylwester said...

Dr. Weevil at 12:18 PM
Have you checked? Names that sound exotic and unique to generic American ears may be quite common in their home countries. ...

Thanks for your excellent comment.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

people need to start telling the race-grievance segregation mongers to shove it.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

wrecking lives with lies and inflated grievances is the hallmark of the modern democrat party and modern democrat party surrogates.

Like the ACLU and the NYT.

Michael K said...

But I think the overwhelming majority of Black employees who are terminated are upset for a bit, then just go and look for another job, like anyone else. Otherwise the courts would be overwhelmed with nothing but wrongful termination suits.

Probably true of most lower and middle class blacks. These uproars are with upper class, privileged blacks who are least likely to suffer any discrimination. It is theater.

Nonapod said...

Academia is mostly dead in the country. It's mostly dead because daring to question progressive orthodoxy is generally no longer permitted. And although there may be a small number of professors and other professionals within acedemia who might want to attempt to change this state of affairs, realistically there's just not enough of them. Most either tacitly agree with the suppression of free thought, or they're too afraid to risk losing their tenure, their livelihood, and their social status. They can see the vultures picking clean the bones of those who dared to speak up.

It's sad. But the reality is that no enough people really care anymore. There's no champion(s) coming to save it any time soon. Don't hold your breath.

Titus said...

Northampton is a major lez city. Is is fab though. The town isn’t that big and they have their own kiehls store! Very wealthy rural area. Even the rural areas here are liberal and cool. And beautiful too.

Gahrie said...

But I think the overwhelming majority of Black employees who are terminated are upset for a bit, then just go and look for another job, like anyone else. Otherwise the courts would be overwhelmed with nothing but wrongful termination suits.

Probably true of most lower and middle class blacks. These uproars are with upper class, privileged blacks who are least likely to suffer any discrimination. It is theater.


It's not just theater. It's much worse than that.

It's race hustling grift. It's a chance at a Golden Ticket. You win, you gain fame and fortune, you lose and usually still get some cash and sympathy. Al Sharpton has made a career at it. Look at how absurd the Smollett allegations were, yet people initially believed them, and some still do. There was supposed to be repercussions for the false police report and the favoritism, but who ended up being punished?

Jeff said...

And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

Assuming facts not in evidence. Every highly publicized supposedly racist incident of the past few decades has turned out, on closer inspection, to either not be racist at all, or reverse racism. Every. Single. One. Supposed civil rights leaders have been shown to be nothing but race hustlers time and time again.

When are you going to wise up?

Rick said...

I think there are two interesting under-discussed elements to the story.

1. Christoph
@Halalcoholism
Replying to
@thomaschattwill
It’s easy to see Kanoute as the villain here but she’s also a victim in a sense. If she is unable to interpret being asked why she’s somewhere she shouldn’t be as anything other than virulent racism, that is a natural consequence of absorbing the current state of race discourse.

Left wing academia has mentally and emotionally ruined a generation of college students. It will take them a lifetime to recover and become simply neutral forces rather than walking disasters.

2. The ACLU lawyer is comparing accusations of racism to actual racism. But this is not what happened. In reality the comparison is false accusations of racism to actual not racism. His formulation suggests he does not recognize a difference between either:

a. false accusations of racism and true accusations of racism, or
b. actual racism and not racism.

Not recognizing these differences is key to understanding both why leftists are wrong about everything and why they are useless to debate.

Indigo Red said...

rhhardin said...
Stay away from blacks and don't hire blacks, seems to be the lesson. Nothing but trouble.

2/25/21, 10:53 AM


That is exactly what Blacks in northern cities did in the 1920s and 30s when southern Blacks moved north. The southern Blacks brought the southern culture learned from the southern White with them. Northerners, Mid--Westerners, and Westerners did not like the shambling and illicit southern cultural ways. Non-Southern Blacks moved from their homes and towns when the Southern Black Diaspora came. It wasn't about skin color, but the social customs of Southerners.

Rick said...

BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...
She was eating in an area that was off limits to everyone, she asked to leave - and this is a racial discrimination crime?


Also consider what is means that she immediately turned on her camera. She was going to turn this into a racial event even before she knew what was going on which is why the facts as they played out were ultimately irrelevant to her narrative.

Gahrie said...

To add to my 1:09 comment:

Look at the results of this case. Kanoute was clearly in the wrong. She was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. She created a false racial controversy over it. These facts aren't disputed.

SHE STILL WON. She got an apology, her lawyers got paid, and the school caved to her demands.

Why wouldn't these hoaxes and false controversies continue?

henge2243 said...

I think a more appropriate title for the article would have been, "Trespassing while ignorant".

Xmas said...

What's left out of all this discussion is that the janitor had poor eyesight and couldn't tell if the person they say laying on the couch of in the closed dorm was male or female.

So, on the campus of a woman's college that had children there for a summer program, a janitor noticed someone in a closed building that wasn't supposed to be there. If, god forbid, the person sleeping on the couch hadn't been a student and something happened to one of those children...

Northampton is a nice little town, but it's a 5 minute drive from Springfield and a few cities that aren't nice little towns. It's also right along the heroin highway coming from NYC.

Rabel said...

Here, if it will play for you is a video of the young lady detailing the horrific experience she endured and calling for the firing of the "punk" who called security.

You can decide for yourself if her tears are genuine.

An aside - There is a portion of the white population in the US, most of whom live in almost entirely white areas, who simply melt when they see a black face up close onscreen and cannot form an objective view of the person behind that face.

A lot of those people live in Madison.

Rick said...

Breezy said...
These CRT trainings are ipso facto racist, and are not Constitutional.


CRT trainings in employment or education are violations of our civil rights as outlined in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Titus said...

New York and Boston like to summer in Northampton.

Andrew said...

Back in the late 70s I was a line supervisor in a food production company. A pretty Black gal continued to call me a "racist dog" to my face. I wrote her up many times and finally fired her. She felt I was putting at a job position because of her race, not the case.

So a week after letting her go as I was leaving for lunch I got called into the plant managers office. There I was confronted with a Bkack minister and the NAACP. Evidently I fired a lot of Blacks. When they finished I told them I had to go as I was meeting my wife for lunch. I also said I hire vastly more Blacks than even our Black supervisors combined. I said interview my Black workers. I ask the minister what church he represented, I asked him if James ***** was an asistant Decon there, he said yes. I said talk to James. When I got back from lunch they apologised.

I'm not bigoted, I treat everyone like a million till they prove me wrong.

Rick said...

tim maguire said...
No worries. He was just a janitor.


I don't think she considered this at all. As a thought experiment consider how the reporting individual being a white tenured professor would have effected the outcome. It would have made the outrage even louder.

The only necessary element is a link to whiteness which she already has by virtue of living in America. That's the beauty of the leftist conception of white supremacy: even if every person in the chain had been black they can still blame the event on white supremacy. This, and not evidence white supremacy exists, is how they determined the qualities of white supremacy. They retro-fit the philosophy to justify the accusation.

tim maguire said...

Rick said...
"tim maguire said...No worries. He was just a janitor."

I don't think she considered this at all. As a thought experiment consider how the reporting individual being a white tenured professor would have effected the outcome. It would have made the outrage even louder.


You completely missed my point.

"Mark Patenaude...was a janitor at Smith...he said: "I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."

Mark understands.

I'm Not Sure said...

"This is another situation demonstrating that the demand for racism outstrips the supply."

If you white folks won't supply all the racism demanded by blacks, well- they'll just make up the difference.

Supply and demand. It's not just a good idea; it's the law.

alanc709 said...

Racism is in the eye of the beholder. Liberals always project their beliefs onto others. That's why the see so much racism, because they are the systemic racists.

stlcdr said...

Blogger Balfegor said...
Re: Joe Smith:

He said, 'If I owned a business I would try not to hire black people.'

I was taken aback as he is the least racist person I know.

So I asked...um...why is that?

He said, 'Because you could never fire them without a huge lawsuit.'

I think that overestimates how litigious Blacks are when they are fired. Sure, if they want to fight it out, they'll have a better shot at cobbling together a discrimination claim (as opposed to claiming their termination was whistleblower retaliation or some other kind of discrimination orwhatever).
But I think the overwhelming majority of Black employees who are terminated are upset for a bit, then just go and look for another job, like anyone else. Otherwise the courts would be overwhelmed with nothing but wrongful termination suits.

2/25/21, 12:23 PM


Isn't that the point, though? Most black people, just like white people, or any other race under the sun are genuine people trying to make their way through life.

The media and politicians are pushing this racial divide - with a minority (sic) supporting that story; at some point, you start 'believing' the lie and changing your behavior best to protect yourself.

Both black people and white people are being told that anything bad happens to a black person (or white person!) it's the white persons fault.

Rick said...

Andrew said...
Evidently I fired a lot of Blacks. When they finished I told them I had to go as I was meeting my wife for lunch. I also said I hire vastly more Blacks than even our Black supervisors combined.


As a teen my sister was fired from a restaurant job and told my father she was mistreated. He was pissed and complained only to find out she was fired for refusing to clean a piece of kitchen equipment she thought was "gross". But it was easier for her psyche to claim he favored other people over her.

The point is that kids will blame their failures on anything that makes their own mistakes seem less culpable. This is the nature of immaturity, it's not racial. When you make the weapon of race available for this purpose it will be used, even more so if you treat them as heroes for doing so.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Xmas said...
What's left out of all this discussion is that the janitor had poor eyesight and couldn't tell if the person they say laying on the couch of in the closed dorm was male or female.

Based on the photos I'm finding of her, he's pretty much innocent of "mis-gendering" her.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

Diversity dogma, not limited to racism, breeds adversity.

chickelit said...

Rabel said...You can decide for yourself if her tears are genuine.

Crocodile tears.

Rick said...

Mike Sylwester said...
In this particular case, fortunately, Oumou Kanoute will have persistent difficulties getting hired for the rest of her life, because potential employers will find out about this mess that she caused.


I wish this were true, but it isn't. People like this don't want regular work. They want jobs as Heroes to the Movement of which there are many in academia, media, the NGO system, and government. This is how you get noticed for those jobs.

chickelit said...

Oumou Kanoute is studying chemistry, She will have no problem finding work anywhere. Employers actively discriminate against white male applicants in that field and have for some time now.

n.n said...

Money Privilege uses the white privilege fiction as a cudgel.

The diversity racket is a for-profit corporate subsidiary of the trillion dollar sociopolitical complex.

traditionalguy said...

Black Power’s blood is up. They smell a coming massacre of American whites. Wisconsin should be getting ready.

LYNNDH said...

It would so nice of Karma came around and visited this very nice person.

n.n said...

Employers actively discriminate against white male applicants

Diversity dogma, including affirmative discrimination, under the Rainbow of inclusion exclusive of black, brown, and featuring a gay pleasure in the shredded remains of white, is a politically congruent ("=") policy of the established Progressive Church/Synagogue/Temple/Mosque/Clinic/Office/Chamber. Anything and everything is a viable choice and tolerable collateral damage for leverage. #BabyLivesMatter(BLM)

Bob Boyd said...

What will happen on Mars, where colony members are there for life, and a racist is inevitably discovered in their midst?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Bob Boyd said...
What will happen on Mars, where colony members are there for life, and a racist is inevitably discovered in their midst?

That's what airlocks are for!

John Cunningham said...

BLM = Burn, Loot, Murder.

hawkeyedjb said...

Ironclad said...
...virtually ALL of the incidents lately have been hoaxes...

Almost all race incidents are hoaxes, but they are not about race. They are about power - even snotty high-school and college kids know they can bend the adults into pretzels with a charge of "racism." Contra Althouse, these incidents do not "[make] people skeptical of charges of racism." Even the people who go along know that the charge isn't about racism; anyone who pays attention knows a power play, and they want to be on one side of it. Surely, it didn't take the president of the college long to learn the real facts, but she knows where the power lies and is too happy to aid and abet the game.

Muggers use guns or knives to get what they want, because it almost always works. Same with "racism" attacks. Same mentality, same result.

StephenFearby said...

DM 25 February 2021

Obama calls for reparations for black Americans because the 'wealth of this country was built on the backs of slaves' - but says he couldn't get it done as president due to the 'politics of white resistance'

"...During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama appeared to oppose reparations and argued that 'the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed.'"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9298073/Obama-claims-reparations-justified-explains-nonstarter-presidency.html

5M - Eckstine said...

The guy is correct money privilege is where its at. White privilege is just a smoke screen.

Francisco D said...

Ann Althouse said... And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

Althouse, you are a very well intentioned, nice White lady. However, I cannot imagine legitimate anti-racism. The demand for racist behavior is so great that shit is made up all the time, especially on college campuses. Racism against Blacks is mostly bullshit these days. Racism against Whites and Asians is another story.

The race hustle focuses on nice White ladies like you.

Of course, I am a White Supremacist for having those views.

5M - Eckstine said...

IMO most of the incidents of .... while black racism are a symptom of a personality disorder.

Blacks who misread social interactions as racism because their imaginations are stoked by the fear factories.

They shouldn't be taken seriously.

n.n said...

The guy is correct money privilege is where its at. White privilege is just a smoke screen.

Yes, before the ostensibly "novel" conception of "white privilege", the same ideological minority remarked on "Jew privilege". All's fair in lust and abortion.

Temujin said...

Teach a generation of kids to see racism in everything. Just approaching them is racist. Looking at them is racist. Talking about them in the third person is...oops..racist.

We allowed this bullshit to take on a life of it's own. And now you have grown adults, mostly white, but not exclusively so, apologizing for other people looking, or breathing in the direction of a black person. Or worse, just being white.

And the result? Segregation is not only back, but it's demanded by the progressives.

If you were China or Russia and you wanted to blow up the US, all you had to do was infect it with Left wing thinking and over time, it would rot the country from within. I guess the job is almost complete. The march through the institutions has spilled out into corporate America and is now coming for the janitor who cleans the floors at the school.

Rory said...

"The race hustle focuses on nice White ladies like you."

The nice ladies have their own hustle, which has far less basis than either the black or tribal hustles. So they can't examine these other hustles very closely.

n.n said...

black racism are a symptom of a personality disorder

Diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgment) is a mild form of psychosis. The rabid forms, including racism, are a progressive condition through positive reinforcement from trusted sources. While not quite a wicked solution (e.g. planned population, one-child, selective-child), if allowed to progress, it evolves to force a dysfunctional convergence.

n.n said...

The nice ladies have their own hustle, which has far less basis than either the black or tribal hustle

The first vote, first land owner, first community leader, first "safe" and legal abortion, first whatever. Out, damned spot.

Bob Boyd said...

That's what airlocks are for!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnfjdDhpWOg&ab_channel=PauloEmmer

Ken B said...

Sylwester:” In this particular case, fortunately, Oumou Kanoute will have persistent difficulties getting hired for the rest of her life, because potential employers will find out about this mess that she caused.”

I do not agree. She will find eager employers in some progressive think tank or some Democrat organization. She will ever be the victim who bravely pushed back.

Achilles said...

As for all the training sessions in race and intersectionality, he said: "I don’t know if I believe in white privilege. I believe in money privilege."


This is the money graph. This man will be destroyed for uttering it.

This is a class struggle, not a race struggle.

The money people are using their power to divide poor people by race. The democrat party has always been a party of racism.

As long as the Oligarchs can keep poor black people focused and hating poor white people and vice-versa they win.

It is a primary tool to achieve their goals.

Gravel said...

I propose a simple solution for all educational institutions, which could easily be expanded to other institutions:

Whoever displays racially threatening imagery - nooses, swastikas, 'the n-word', etc. - is expelled. Period.

Whoever falsely accuses another member of the institution of racist behavior - such as what this little shit did - is expelled. Period.

None of them have the balls to do it of course, but that's the answer.

Achilles said...

Ann Althouse said...

What the student did was terrible, but worse than that is what the administrators did, what the ACLU did, and what the NYT, The Washington Post, and CNN. I can understand the low-level dishonesty of going on the offensive when you're caught doing something wrong. It's very childish and shameful. But for powerful, prestigious institutions to back up these false charges and to go on the offensive against cafeteria workers and janitors is high-level evil. And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

Has the bubble finally popped?

I am going to venture this ray of sunshine will make a brief peak out at best.

Achilles said...

New profile who dis? said...

I propose a simple solution for all educational institutions, which could easily be expanded to other institutions:

Whoever displays racially threatening imagery - nooses, swastikas, 'the n-word', etc. - is expelled. Period.

Whoever falsely accuses another member of the institution of racist behavior - such as what this little shit did - is expelled. Period.

None of them have the balls to do it of course, but that's the answer.



You need to analyze the results of your solution.

Who gains power if you implement this sort of regime?

What forces society are you augmenting?

Will this cause people to spend more time thinking about race or less?

Temujin said...

By the way, our virtue signaling corporate HR departments all over America should know better than to ever consider hiring Oumou Kanoute, just based on the awful character she displayed during all this and the length she would go to perpetrate a fraud to hurt other people. They should know better. But they won't.

Someone will think they're getting an approved checkmark next to them for hiring her some day soon. And that company will have brought in a disease to infect the rest of the team.

At Smith she thought she was being singled out because she was black, when she was being singled out because she was a human where none were supposed to be at that time. Imagine being the manager overseeing that.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Black man shot Ashli? Whoda thunk it? Affirmative action Promotion to Lt? Happens every day!

pacwest said...

45 years in business. I had probably over a thousand employees through the years. I can honestly say I never once considered skin color while hiring or firing. Who gives a shit. It's about money, not some pie in the sky thing. Ability and attitude is what counts. If I were still running it I would never hire a POC going forward. Never. Idiots. And probably no one with a college degree either. And now that I think about it, women.

I don't think that would make me racist or sexist, just covering my own ass.

Rick said...

Gahrie said..

Look at the results of this case. Kanoute was clearly in the wrong. She was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. She created a false racial controversy over it. These facts aren't disputed.

SHE STILL WON. She got an apology, her lawyers got paid, and the school caved to her demands.


There's one mistake in this: that the school "caved". In fact the school is doing exactly what it wants to do. The school and the complainant are allies. The school needs a complainant because they can justify some of their desires easier by relying on their supposed responsibility to protect students. The school used this complaint as an excuse to implement their plan which is why they did not investigate the facts before moving forward.

Using external allies and the threat of litigation to justify decisions to skeptical outsiders is part of the standard leftist playbook. They used (and continue to use) the same play with Title IX.

Earnest Prole said...

Tucker Carlson has a plan for elite colleges that will entirely eliminate this kind of bullshit: The trouble with America's class system

walter said...

"the janitor had been encouraged to notify security if he saw unauthorized people there"
There it is!
She was "undocumented".
Plus..what was she eating?
Ah ha!

Gravel said...

Achilles, grifters like Ms Kanoute and her enablers think about race every waking moment, always on the lookout for the ability to make somebody dance, and make a few bucks in the process. They couldn't think about it more than they already do.

The court system has proven itself to be useless as a ward against this nonsense; our culture is so degraded that social stigma is completely upside-down. Sure, simply telling people to grow up and deal with each other would be preferable but it ain't in the cards.

A true zero tolerance policy is the shortest, clearest path to curtailing this idiocy. Not perfect, but it's a workable solution.

JaimeRoberto said...

Smith should have held it's ground lest it be overwhelmed by the tide of BS lawsuits from the likes of Queen Kanoute.

n.n said...

Using external allies and the threat of litigation to justify decisions to skeptical outsiders is part of the standard leftist playbook

It sounds remarkably the same as the Philips settlement with environmentalists that paved the way to normalizing CFLs, and so many other changes in both public and private evnironments. Perhaps the Chinese were right to just go full communist and skip the pretenses with collateral damage.

n.n said...

Diversity of individuals, minority of one. #BabyLivesMatter(BLM)

walter said...

" the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color."
--
Great way to shake that "living while Black" feeling.
Now do drinking fountains to avoid potential flash points.

Mark Jones said...

DavidUW asked "Why the fuck would you buy a shit degree that pays you less than owning a gas station or laundromat.
Oh that's right, so Buffy can say she has a college degree."

No. It's MEMBERSHIP DUES in the Ruling Class. It's the (Not So) SECRET HANDSHAKE that signals fellow members to give you the benefit of the doubt, and enables you to reasonably expect to be promoted far beyond your actual level of competence (as evidenced by the administrators at Smith College). It's your ticket to the ability to fail upward regardless of your idiocy and incompetence...as long as you toe the party line.

Krumhorn said...

And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism.

Oh, it’s far FAR worse than that.

- Krumhorn

chickelit said...

Let me get this straight, an independent investigation clears the Smith employees and the grifter student still demands they be fired? I think Althouse is wrong to minimize the role of student. She is in fact the cause. Try to be more colorblind, Althouse.

exhelodrvr1 said...

"legitimate anti-racism" - I can't recall any recently reported valid "racist incidents" that were not racist against whites, racist against conservative POCs, or racism in the educational system against Asian-Americans. Have there been any?

Quaestor said...

I propose a simple solution for all educational institutions, which could easily be expanded to other institutions...

I have a better solution:

Whoever displays racially threatening imagery - nooses, swastikas, 'the n-word', etc. - is exercising freedom of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Period.

Whoever falsely accuses another member of the institution of racist behavior - such as what this little shit did - has probably committed libel and may be the target of a lawsuit. If false accusations are given under oath, the false accuser may be prosecuted for perjury. Period.

None of them have the balls to do it of course, but that's the answer.

c365 said...

Student trespasses and accuses security of racism. Where have I heard this?

Customer pays with counterfeit currency and accuses police of racism.

Driver is intoxicated or high on drugs and accuses police of racism.

Customer gets caught stealing and accuses security of racism.

The list can go on and on.

The only thing race has to do with it, is an excuse for bad behavior on the part of the alleged wrong do-er.

That doesn't mean racism doesn't exist. But it always seems to come up the most when someone is caught doing something wrong.

Obama fails to be an effective president and accuses critics of racism.

Ya, that sounds about right.

Biff said...

We're at the point where an entire generation has been raised to assume racism first and then maybe, if we're lucky, to ask questions later.

In a way, it's surprising this sort of thing doesn't happen a lot more often, or maybe it does, and we're only hearing about this one because it involves Smith, and we all know how much the NYT loves a good story about pervasive racism at top colleges.

n.n said...

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

Friendo said...

@Titus 1;08: "liberal and cool" are no longer a thing. I gotcher moisturizer, riiiggghhhttt heeere.

LordSomber said...

The tendency towards constant special pleading, set-asides and demanded apologies can probably be summed up in one word: Fragility.

Friendo said...

@Rick 1:10 "It’s easy to see Kanoute as the villain here but she’s also a victim in a sense. If she is unable to interpret being asked why she’s somewhere she shouldn’t be as anything other than virulent racism, that is a natural consequence of absorbing the current state of race discourse"

This is such complete horseshit: I'm a "POC" and I have not, nor would ever, do what is at issue here. It is a perverted and toxic reaction that has been and is being inculcated, developed, and supported by the institutions that are enriched by its propagation.

Jim at said...

One of these days, these race-baiters are going to try to destroy the wrong person.

And then it's going to get ugly, if not downright bloody. Made-up racism will be the least of their problems.

Original Mike said...

"And it doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism, because it makes people skeptical of charges of racism."

That horse has not only left the barn, it has been sighted in the next county.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

"the janitor had been encouraged to notify security if he saw unauthorized people there"

I just realized that the NYT phrased that very curiously. "the janitor had been encouraged..." Wouldn't most organizations expect their staff to report someone being in an area they were not authorized to be in?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

'I ask that Smith College [the woke mob] stop reducing my personhood to a racial category. Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself,' she said.

'Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is based upon my skin color. Stop asking me to project stereotypes and assumptions onto others based on their skin color.

'Stop demanding that I admit to white privilege, and work on my so-called implicit bias as a condition of my continued employment.'


Big Mike said...

21st century Progressives want what George Corley Wallace wanted in 1972. Was Wallace merely ahead of his time? Or are Progressives merely guilty of false advertising?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

oops -that quote is from Jodi Shaw -

'who worked for the residential life department, resigned from the school on February 19, citing a 'racially hostile environment.'

Rick said...

Friendo said...
This is such complete horseshit: I'm a "POC" and I have not, nor would ever, do what is at issue here.


The point isn't to absolve her, as pointed out she remains a villain. The point is that the activist leaders and schools who train these sociopaths need to be blamed as well.

Don't be so stingy, there's enough blame to go around.

Jim at said...

By allowing Oumou Kanoute to make a big deal about her nonsense, the college administration has allowed her to ruin her own entire life.

Sorry. No. They've allowed her to ruin everybody else's lives.

RNB said...

"Crying, 'Racism!' is the last resort of a scoundrel." Or is it the first?

n.n said...

Sorry. No. They've allowed her to ruin everybody else's lives.

Case in point: Some, Select Black Lives Matter, a for-profit corporation in the diversity racket, which operates under the umbrella of the trillion dollar sociopolitical complex. #Burden... BabyLivesMatter(BLM)

Oh, well, another event horizon near a black hole... whore h/t NAACP, to be leveraged for sociopolitical progress and profit.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tomcc said...

I'm not convinced about the pervasiveness of "white privilege", I think it's an oversimplification of the advantages of congruence with the norms of the dominant culture.
On the other hand, I know for a fact that Black privilege is upon us, as evidenced by this (and other) stories.
The shoplifting thing is just the start.

n.n said...

"Crying, 'Racism!' is the last resort of a scoundrel." Or is it the first?

The diversitists bray racism. The genderphobes bray homophobia. The chauvinists bray feminism. The Dezis bray Jew... White privilege. The transhumane bray rites. A progressive path.

Ken B said...

Big Mike
Look back before Wallace, long before. John C Calhoun. That “white culture “ training stuff is exactly what Calhoun would say. The only difference between much of modern wokeness and Calhoun is the emotional valence. Calhoun thought those things were true and proved whites superior. The woke think those things are true but prove whites inferior.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"What the student did was terrible"

What was terrible? I read the investigative report commissioned from an outside law firm by Smith College. The student's perspective was that she had been racially profiled while eating her lunch in a place on the Smith campus where she had every right to be.

The report indicates that she had access to the building in question not due to her status as a student, but because she was employed in the Smith summer program that was using that building. She got her lunch from a cafeteria operating in the building and went into an adjacent common room to eat it.

"I can understand the low-level dishonesty of going on the offensive when you're caught doing something wrong. It's very childish and shameful."

The campus policeman apologized to the student on the scene. She was not caught doing anything wrong. Why do you jump to the conclusion that she did?

In the "see something, say something" world in which we now live, if it was OK to call the campus police based on thinking a person is doing something suspicious, then it is OK for the person to call out her own suspicions of racial profiling in the making of that call.

tommyesq said...

"the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color"

Of course, Smith is an all-girls school (however that might be defined these days) and so has already demonstrated a willingness to segregate based on immutable (assuming we are still allowed to say that about sex) criteria.

Ken B said...

Left Bank
Misses all the important points. She slandered people by name with no evidence. She was not entitled to be at that particular spot and falsely portrayed someone correctly questioning her right to be there as questioning her “right to exist” at all, as if she had been challenged about being enrolled, a lie.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Left Bank of the Charles said...

In the "see something, say something" world in which we now live, if it was OK to call the campus police based on thinking a person is doing something suspicious, then it is OK for the person to call out her own suspicions of racial profiling in the making of that call.

Why is it OK to call out suspicions of racial profiling for what may just be a case of mistaken identity?

Robert Marshall said...

"doesn't help the legitimate cause of anti-racism"

The "cause of anti-racism" is NOT legitimate. It is a shake-down, based 99.9% on BS like this nasty piece of Smith College wokery. Whatever small residue of genuine racism is embedded in that giant steaming pile of BS, it is too insignificant to care about it, in the face of the fraudulence of the bulk of it.

Black Lies Matter!

Rick said...

The student's perspective was that she had been racially profiled

Remember this when left wingers next criticize others for believing something "without evidence". She leapt to the conclusion and accuses others of racism completely without evidence and left wingers conclude she "did nothing wrong".

Amusingly he literally accuses others of jumping to conclusions showing he agrees it's a problem but cannot apply it to the event in question. Left wingers never hold themselves to the standards they apply to others.

n.n said...

"the creation of dormitories — as demanded by Ms. Kanoute and her A.C.L.U. lawyer — set aside for Black students and other students of color"

Progress from colored people (i.e. low information attribute) to "students of color" (i.e. color blocs, identity determined by skin color, racism, diversity). One step forward, two steps backward. #Burden... BabyLivesMatter(BLM)

Quaestor said...

LBoC writes: The student's perspective was that she had been racially profiled while eating her lunch in a place on the Smith campus where she had every right to be.

And from the janitor's perspective, he was reporting someone inside a closed building to campus security, something he was instructed to report.

Even Steven. One cancels the other.

Or does Left Bank of the Charles believe some animals as more equal than others?

Silly question. Of course he does.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

Racial profiling is neither unsensible nor illegal. So she feels (operative word) she was racially profiled. BFD.

I'm Not Sure said...

"In the "see something, say something" world in which we now live, if it was OK to call the campus police based on thinking a person is doing something suspicious, then it is OK for the person to call out her own suspicions of racial profiling in the making of that call."

You really don't see a difference between reporting "There's somebody in the building who's not supposed to be there" and "I'm being reported because the guy who saw me is racist"?

O-kay.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said... [hush]​[hide comment]
Left Bank of the Charles said... [hush]​[hide comment]

The report indicates that she had access to the building in question not due to her status as a student, but because she was employed in the Smith summer program that was using that building. She got her lunch from a cafeteria operating in the building and went into an adjacent common room to eat it.


Do you have a link to that report? None of what you're saying is in the NYT article that Althouse links to above.


Ok, time to issue a correction. The above link does mention that she was a student worker at the school. However, it goes on to say:

Student workers were not supposed to use the Tyler cafeteria, which was reserved for a summer camp program for young children.

It makes no mention of whether or not she had access to the dorm and is not clear on whether or not she was involved in the school program. Still would like to see a link to the Smith College report if Left Bank can provide it.

KellyM said...

wild chicken said...
"So 70 years ago Smith was teaching young women to know and accept their place as
wives and mothers of Important Men per the latest science on female psychology or
risk neurosis from being maladjusted.

And the students went psycho trying to nail down that good marriage before
graduating into the void. According to Betty Friedan, alumna.

Sometime between then and now there had to be a golden age for Smith, yes? Where
they get it right?"

The more I’ve read about Betty Friedan, the more convinced I am that she was maladjusted right out of the womb. That broad was a kook. But, by the 80s, at least among my high school friends, attending Smith signaled you were batting for the other team. Good job, Betty.

Jon Burack said...

One reason the Trotskyites at the World Socialist Web Site have led the effort to discredit the despicable 1619 Project is because they view the current systemic racism obsession as a classic divide-and-conquer tactic with respect to class. That is divide the working class by turning one part of it (blacks) against the other (whites). I am no Marxist, but I think there is a good deal of truth in this view. The elite class arrogance driving this mania is dramatically revealed by the truly malevolent doings at Smith College (tuition $78,000) where pampered students find ways to destroy the lives of cafeteria workers, security personnel and others making half that tuition to live on. The use of race now is a tool to keep all on edge against one another and dependent on the "authorities" for guidance and redemption. Time to say NO.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Is this a leap year? Black History Month seems to be going on forever . . .

Drago said...

Ken B: "Left Bank Misses all the important points."

That is fundamentally Left Bank's brand and he is always very much on brand.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Jon Burack, the goal of the elites is to manage all of human relations. They want all human relations, even those between husband and wife, and parent and child, funneled through the institutions that they control.

Drago said...

Left Bank: "The student's perspective was that she had been racially profiled while eating her lunch in a place on the Smith campus where she had every right to be."

In the case of the non leftist, the reporting person saw an actual person sitting in a clearly defined physical space that was designated off limits.

In the case of the typical leftist, she engaged in Mind Reading/Wrong Think/Make Believe/Made Up Thought Crimes.

Unexpectedly.

narciso said...

here's a hotter take


https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jodi-shaw-smith-college-bari-weiss-rapping-librarian-1132010/

LA_Bob said...

"He said, 'Because you could never fire them without a huge lawsuit.'"

Theory, meet Practice.

LA_Bob said...

"I was telling my grandkids last weekend that, in the future, only use Asian doctors."

Technically, an Indian is an Asian, but I wonder if the intent is to prefer oriental doctors.

mandrewa said...

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jodi-shaw-smith-college-bari-weiss-rapping-librarian-1132010/

Bari Weiss is such a dishonest piece of shit. She's not a hero. She's a modern neo-Nazi and she belongs at the New York Times. Boy, when they took her out, they were really shooting their own.

n.n said...

Technically, an Indian is an Asian, but I wonder if the intent is to prefer oriental doctors.

Russians are Asians, too. In fact, Asian, similar to African, covers a lot of diversity: billions of people... persons.

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