The latest uproar over racism in Virginia is taking place at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg. There has been a huge outcry over the following:
On Oct. 15, a freshman posted a flier, downloaded from the Internet, on the refrigerator of a dormitory lounge. As reported by the Free Lance-Star, the flier pictured a sobbing black basketball player with his white coach and reads, “Slavery reinstated: Catch yourself a strong one.”
I have a question: What does that mean? I can’t tell. The Free Lance-Star, the Times-Dispatch, NBC news and the college newspaper, The Bullet, all have reported on the incident but none have reproduced the image. Therefore, we lack crucial context in interpreting the flier. Supposedly, some white students found it funny. If there’s a joke, I don’t get it. If anything, it would seem that the flier is equating the status of black athletes with slaves. That’s a comparison that socially progressive sports writers have trotted out from time to time. But it’s just not clear. The words could mean something else entirely.
For the life of me, though, I can’t see anything that is self-evidently racist. I’ve been accused of being unable to see racism — when confronted with the bald facts, I hold my hands over my ears and loudly say, la la la la la la, I can’t hear you! Evidently, I am clueless once again, and I ask Bacon’s Rebellion readers to help me out.
Apparently, acting college president Rick Hurley had no trouble spotting the racism. The trouble began when MWU housekeepers encountered the flier and filed a complaint. Hurley was reported to be “livid” when he first heard about it. His reaction: “I wanted to see [the students responsible] thrown off campus. I don’t think they belong here,” he was quoted as saying in The Bullet. “It’s one of the ugliest, most awful things I’ve ever seen. I got choked up just looking at it.”
That’s strong language. Maybe the artwork in the flier appealed to derogatory racial stereotypes. If so, I don’t blame Hurley for getting upset. But if that’s the case, it hasn’t been reported. The news accounts are frustrating because nobody says exactly what they found offensive. They’re just offended, end of story. There have been rallies. Sensitivity forums are being organized. Professors are discussing the incident in classrooms. UMW has even upped its police presence in the dormitory where the flier was found.
One student associated with the flier has apologized for his “racial insensitivity” as well as conduct that he said was “uncalled for and completely out of line.” But that apparently isn’t the end of it. Reports NBC news: “The student who posted it is being charged with violating university policies and will be subject to possible disciplinary action by the campus judicial system.”
In a separate story, the Free Lance-Star interviewed Hurley:
The poster violates the school’s values, but it’s unclear when “you ask how you prosecute for violations of those values,” [Hurley] said in a telephone interview. Hurley will appoint a task force to make sure the rules are “as comprehensive as necessary to prosecute offenders to the extent legally possible when incidents occur.”
Also, he’s asking an advisory council to immediately form a university policy on how to deal with “bias-related” incidents. Some wondered why the administration didn’t react more decisively to the news.
He wouldn’t say whether the school’s current policies will hinder its prosecution of the student, whom he didn’t name. But he did say that the university must keep First Amendment rights in mind.
Well, that’s reassuring. Offenders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent legally possible for violating “community values,” but at least their “First Amendment rights” will be protected. When the administration does file charges, I hope it will at least specify how the flier offended community values. Otherwise, we’ll all just have to guess.
Unless I’m missing something — and I’m open to the possibility I am, given the incomplete description of the offending flier — my guess is that many white students will learn the wrong lesson: They’ll conclude that the whole notion of “tolerance” on campus is a joke, that certain views and actions are to be tolerated but others are not. I suspect that many will sullenly submit to the PC thought police, keep their opinions about race to themselves, and refuse to engage in the kind of healthy, open dialogue we need if we’re ever to achieve racial conciliation and understanding in this country.